Notts County’s inconsistencies are beginning to show in the league, and following a second-round FA Cup exit too, boss Luke Williams has admitted they could make moves in the January transfer window when speaking to the Nottingham Post.
The Magpies have had a relatively successful start to life back in England’s fourth tier, however, four defeats in their last six league matches have resulted in a slip from the automatic places, down to sixth.
It has been their defensive errors that have been under the most scrutiny in recent weeks, highlighted by the three goals they conceded to Shrewsbury Town in England’s most prestigious cup competition at the start of this month. This added to the fact they have conceded the fourth-most goals in League Two, has led Williams to come out and admit that County may be looking to strengthen in the upcoming window.
“In this game, you only get so many chances and I should think there will be a list of players that the club are very interested in and feel they may be able to bring them in to improve our performances. If we’re ambitious enough, then that is what will happen,” the 42-year-old told the Nottingham Post.
“I don’t see a risk in a lot of the things we do, because we aim to be first to the ball always and not allow the opposition to do something that causes players to be moved around,” he added.
“If we see a player that has a high level of individual skill that unlocks our defence, I can accept that, but to make a really poor decision that is so costly is something that I can’t accept. I personally don’t see as much risk to how we play as maybe others from the outside do because we were very tight at the back last season and so many of the goals we’ve conceded this season have been completely avoidable.”
“They’re avoidable if we don’t make terrible decisions and lose concentration. We’ve shown that we can score goals quite comfortably at this level, but we can’t seem to avoid big errors that see us concede goals and that is something we have to deal with.”
County will be hoping to get back to winning ways as they travel to face Simon Weaver’s Harrogate Town on Saturday.
Writer’s View
The Nottinghamshire outfit will be disappointed at some of the goals they have been conceding this year. Their tactical style does mean teams will be able to exploit them defensively, but they would have wished that it was not to the same extent that it has been so far this season.
Therefore, it is hardly surprising that Williams and the recruitment team at Meadow Lane will want to make improvements to their back line in a bid to solidify their place in the top seven and potentially make a charge back into the automatic promotion places.
