Maynard aiming to get back in playoff picture
STUART Maynard remains confident that Notts County will kick into gear and force themselves back into the race for the play-offs in League Two despite their poor run.
The new man in the dugout is still in search of his first victory at Meadow Lane and he will be desperate to get that win today as the Magpies welcome AFC Wimbledon to Meadow Lane (3pm).
Three losses on the bounce, the last against bottom-of-the-league Sutton United, have put the pressure on Maynard early to enforce changes that even his predecessor Luke Williams was struggling with late on in his spell.
The play-offs feel further away with each bad result but Maynard remains optimistic about his team’s chances and their ability to turn things around with time.
“While we’re still mathematically in the race, we’ll keep going,” said Maynard.
“We’ll go one game at a time and we won’t get too far ahead of ourselves because the picture can change so quickly with teams putting little runs together.
“It’s the same with us now, we have to put a run of form together to get ourselves back in contention.
“We had a very bad half against Sutton but on the whole, the performances have been good (at home) and it is the types of goals we’re conceding that we’re trying to address on the training field.
“The more contact time we get with the players, the more we’ll improve in that aspect I feel. We’re getting to that stage in the season where we need the fans behind us but we need to give them a good reason to be vocal in their support.
“We have to start games positively and stop conceding early goals because that will start to breed confidence in the crowd and the team.
“There is still a real belief in the camp and for a lot of these players in the last 18 months, they’ve been used to winning games which becomes habit.”
Defensively is where the main problems lie for Notts and it is a continuous battle to try and find the balance between defensive solidity and attacking prowess.
Maynard’s view is that the fine margins are going against Notts currently and if the scales can be tipped slightly, then things will quickly change.
He added: “Wimbledon have had back-to-back clean sheets and that is what they base their game on, so we know it will be tough in that sense and it was tough for us in the reverse fixture which we watched back so we know what they’re about.
“We’ve got to make sure we bring our game and if we do that, we’re confident we can come out with a positive result.
“We’ve stayed a possession-dominant team since we came in and we’re creating lots of chances and not conceding many, but the ones we are conceding or turning into goals more often than not which is the frustrating part.
“In the Crewe game, they had 11 entries into our box and scored three, so we need to tighten up at the back.
“Going forward, we’re okay – our forwards are getting into great positions and it is just a matter of time before they’re firing again.”