TT PREVIEW
Steve Harris – @steveharris84
Match details: Notts County vs Torquay United
Venue: Meadow Lane, Nottingham
Date: Saturday 28th August 2021
Kick-off: 3pm
Notts County fact file:
Year founded: 1862
Nickname: The Magpies
Last season’s league finish: 5th National League
Notable honours:
FA Cup: Winners – 1894
Anglo Italian Cup: Winners – 1995
2nd Division/1st Division/Championship: Winners – 1896-97, 1913-14, 1922-23
2nd Division play-off: Winners – 1990-91
Head to Head:
Torquay: 8 Draws: 19 Notts County: 20
League Position and Recent Form:
Torquay: 14th – L Notts County: 1st – W
Manager: Ian Burchnall
After spending the bulk of his coaching and managerial career in Scandinavia, with Sarpsborg 08, Viking FK in Norway and Ostersund in Sweden, Burchnall was appointed Notts County manager on March 25, 2021 as successor to Neal Ardley. While at Sarpsborg 08 he was assistant manager to former Sheffield United, Leeds United, Benfica and Middlesbrough striker Brian Deane. Burchnall then went on to manage Norwegian side Viking before succeeding Brighton and Hove Albion manager Graham Potter as manager of Swedish Ostersund; In the 2018 Allsvenskan season he led Ostersund to a sixth place finish with 49 points – one place below their highest ever league finish and one point below their record points haul set during Potter’s reign.
In his first season in charge at Meadow Lane, Burchnall guided the Magpies to the National League Play-offs for the second year in a row and is once again aiming high in the 2020-21 campaign.
Player to watch: Ruben Rodrigues
Portuguese midfielder Ruben Rodrigues enjoyed a successful debut campaign with Notts County in the 2020-21 season after joining the Magpies from Den Bosch in Holland.
Rodrigues played a key role in helping County secure a place in the National League Play-offs, as he netted six times during May 2021 – which helped to earn him the National League player of the month award. He was also on target in the Magpies’ 4-2 National League Play-off semi-final defeat against Torquay United at Plainmoor last June.
The Portuguese made a flying start to the 2021-22 campaign when he netted twice in County’s 5-0 win over Barnet on the opening day.
Old boys:
Torquay: None
Notts County: Kyle Cameron, Aaron Nemane, Frank Vincent
Last time: Torquay 4-2 Notts County (AET) – 12th June 2021
GOALS: TUFC- Wright (1, 48), Hall (102), Moxey (105’+4 pen); NOTTS – Rodrigues (39), Chicksen (51).
TEAMS:
Torquay United: Covolan, Moxey, Lewis, Sherring, Wynter, Cameron (Andrews), Hall (Buse), Little (Waters), Randell, Lemonheigh-Evans, Wright (Kimpioka)
Notts County: Slocombe, Brindley, Ellis, Kelly-Evans, Reeves (Griffiths), Doyle, Chicksen (Rawlinson), Miller (Barnett), Boldewijn (Knowles), Rodrigues, Wootton
Possible line-ups:
Notts County (3-5-2)
Sam Slocombe
Richard Brindley – Connell Rawlinson – Kyle Cameron
Dion Kelly-Evans – Cal Roberts – Ed Francis – Matt Palmer – Joel Taylor
Ruben Rodrigues – Kyle Wootton
Torquay United (4-4-1-1)
Mark Halstead
Ben Wynter – Joe Lewis – Ali Omar – Dean Moxey
Gabby Rogers – Armani Little – Asa Hall – Keelan O’Connell
Connor Lemonheigh-Evans
Danny Wright
TT Pre-Match Talking Points…
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Will Gary move to a back five to counter Notts’s wing backs?
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Will we see Jake Andrews in the squad for the first time this season?
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Will we get a last minute loan signing, as per Gary tradition?
OTHER ARTICLES:
THE OPPOSITION Q&A – NOTTS COUNTY by Paul Mace
NOTTS COUNTY (A) PRE-MATCH TALKING POINTS by Dom Roman