United travel to Meadow Lane on Tuesday night to face a Notts County side who are desperate for wins and who have just appointed a new manager following a disappointing start to their season.
We spoke to assistant manager Tommy Wright about what the game and about the need to bounce back following the home defeat against Forest Green Rovers at the weekend.
“Saturday showed us how hard you can make things for yourselves if you don’t start properly,” he said. “If you give any team a head start you make life difficult and, even though we sorted ourselves out and started to create chances, the overall performance just wasn’t good enough.
“We want to put that right. Saturday has gone now, we can’t affect it, but we can do something about this game, the way we play and the energy and drive we put into it.”
“It’s another game where we’ve looked at the opposition and we think it’s one we can win,” he continued. “That isn’t us being disrespectful, we just know we’re a very good side when we press, look after the ball and get the momentum going.
“We say the same things, but it comes down to not worrying about what the opposition is up to as we concentrate on doing the little things well. When we do that we look a very good side, and that’s the frustrating thing for us.
“We’ve got to go there and play our game the right way. We have to be better than we were on Saturday with and without the ball. If we have more energy and drive about us we look a good team, we know that, and the other big thing is to make sure we take our chances when they come.
“Obviously it’s been a time of change for Notts County and usually you get a boost when a new manager comes in. They have a bit of pressure on them at the moment because they’ve spent a lot of money and they’re expected to be at the top end of the league.
“Neal [Ardley] isn’t going to be there, by all accounts, but his players will want to perform to show that they’re ready to do a job for him.”
And on player availability, he told us: “Tom Parkes should be training with us at the end of this week, and Danny Grainger will hopefully be back with us next week.
“Gary Miller hurt his back in training on Friday, so we just have to wait and see how that goes. It could be two days and settled, or it could be longer. We won’t know until the days go on."
