Cheltenham Town play host to promotion hopefuls Notts County this Saturday with the home side looking to secure their place in League 2 for next season.
The Robins suffered a 3-1 defeat to Notts County back in November at Meadow Lane and will be looking to improve on last week’s impressive draw against league leaders Luton Town, having conceded a 92nd-minute equaliser to Luton captain Alan Sheehan.
Notts County are currently lying in 4th place, seven points behind leaders Luton Town with 17 wins from 35 games and have an impressive goal difference of 20 so far this season.
When the team met earlier on in the season, the game ended 3-1 to the Magpies with midfielder Jorge Grant bagging a brace before Shaun Brisley added a third shortly after.
Manager Kevin Nolan will be hoping his side’s performance last time will give them confidence going into the game this Saturday and will be relying on influential midfielder Grant who’s scored 18 goals so far this season.
He said: “I spoke about Jorge before the game but he’s had a tough week with his family which I won’t go into,” he told the Nottingham Post.
“He is a young boy who is learning a lot and this is his first full season. He is learning a lot and he has been unfortunate because when we have needed him to step up and try to get us out of a hole, he’s been one of the eight or nine in the hole with them.
“But we are all together and working hard to get back out of it. Saturday was a clear sign that we are starting to scrap our way out of it.
“I am delighted with that and Jorge’s attitude was fantastic. When he came on, he looked really good and had that clear mind back. I thought he took his goal fantastically well and I was delighted for him.”
The home side will be without midfielder Harry Pell who begins his two-match suspension after an accumulation of yellow cards in his previous games.
Defenders Jordon Forster and Jordan Cranston will also not be available for the game through injury, however Cranston did play his first competitive fixture in almost 4 months in a recent u23s fixture against Bristol City.
County also will miss a few key players with midfielder Michael O’Connor injured while a long lay-off is expected for forward Mason Bennett.
Former Manchester United striker Alan Smith had been out through injury but made a brief cameo appearance last time out.
Expect further news on the game’s future after the sudden snow downpour all across the country in the last few days with postponements to be expected.
