Grealish speaks to the press ahead of Oldham (Credit: Notts County Football Club)
After a strong 2-0 win against promotion hopefuls Swindon on Saturday, and relegation rivals Tranmere and Crewe failing to pick up points, Notts go into the last game of the season two points ahead of the drop, knowing that a single point away at Oldham will secure their survival, due to superior goal difference. Ahead of the Oldham game, Derry commented that:
It [Swindon] was an elation…this weekend is a huge game though. I don’t want to go with a defensive line-up…we need to play our football which has given us success.
Notts are currently fourth in the League One form table after a phenomenal spell, winning five games out of seven, and rescuing themselves from 10 points adrift at the bottom of the table. The Magpies, despite not needing any extra motivation ahead of their most important match of the season, will have taken note of what Oldham manager Lee Johnson mentioned ahead of the fixture however:
“I want our crowd to go for the jugular and help try to send a team down, without being too disrespectful.”
Notts will miss Hayden Mullins however, who was recalled to his parent club Birmingham earlier in the week, following a spate of injuries at the Midlands club who are also in a relegation battle of their own.County fans will take heart from the kind words said by the experienced Mullins about his young centre-half partner Haydn Hollis, who has become a regular in Derry’s team in recent weeks. It is expected that either Sheehan or Liddle will drop to centre half alongside Hollis, with Roberts or Vela filling their roles respectively, depending on the formation.
Derry hopes to bring Mullins back to Meadow Lane in the summer however:
It’s a blow, he was a leader for us, but somebody else will get an opportunity…I would love to bring Hayden back to the club in the summer though.
Looking back on the season, he acknowledged that the club had come a long way since he had arrived at the club, with togetherness of the squad being a prime reason for County’s resurgence. Looking ahead to next season, Derry wants to set out a plan that links the first team closer to the youth team, citing a potential set-up being that
‘I want 19 players who are ready to play for the first team, and the 5 or 6 who are training with the first team but are part of the u18s…I want to speed up the development squad, and then get some more young players into the Notts County team’
The young players involved with the side this season have been instrumental in the battle against relegation and have acquired a considerable amount of experience under pressure, taking them into next season. One in particular has been Jack Grealish, who earlier this week, was nominated for League One player of the month. Speaking to the press, ahead of his final game of the club before he goes back to Aston Villa, he praised his time at the club as being a great character builder:
Everything has changed since I joined County, it has helped my confidence…I have had Alan [Sheehan] behind me and reminding me of my defensive duties!
Commenting on the Oldham game, Grealish admitted: ‘I actually had a dream last night that we stayed up…I didn’t score though!’
League One table ahead of the final game of the season. Credit: (bbc.co.uk/sport)
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