Notts County v Crewe Alex 23/24 Preview - Pie in the Face

I'll ask this question: Have Notts County had a disappointing season? After bringing in Dan Crowley and David McGoldrick in the summer and given how close to Wrexham they were last season, why is it that they are now struggling to potentially make the play-offs? With their squad, they should be breezing them comfortably. Yet all is not well on the north side of the Trent. So, what to make of the Alex's trip there tomorrow? Here are my thoughts:

Sliding

Looks at the Magpies form and you'll see this slump they are in isn't one that has only happened under new boss Stuart Maynard. It's been there for a long time, since they beat FGR 4-3 back in late September if we're being honest. They have just 8 wins from their last 23 games, with just 27 points from a possible 69 amassed in that time. Maynard has 1 win from his first 5 games in charge, including 3 defeats.

They are not in good form at all and if the Alex can get into the game and even get ahead, I can see a few County fans starting to get a bit edgy with the early results under Maynard. The Alex will need to take the large Meadow Lane crowd out of the game.

Awesome attack, dodgy defence

I can't remember the last time we saw a team quite as unbalanced as Notts County. They have an amazing attack, scoring 65 goals. They have the divisions top scorer Macauley Langstaff. They have the most creative player in Jodi Jones, who has 20 assists. Add in McGoldrick and Crowley and you have 49 goals and 34 assists between the 4 players.

But as good as they are going forward, they are horrendous at the back. Like, one of the worst in the division sort of stuff. They can't defend set pieces, they can't defend crosses. They've conceded 3 or more goals on 8 occasions. They have the joint 5th worst defence in the division and the 7th worst home defence. The Alex will need to be mindful of County's attackers, but at the same time look to get at them.

On the road

The Alex are finding home form a little tough to come by at the moment. But away from home they're flying. They are now 5 unbeaten on the road and are looking to make it a nice half dozen here. Hopefully they can use their new found freedom on the road to upset another of the big L2 sides after taking points off Mansfield, Tranmere and Stockport in 2024.

End the streak

The Alex have been doing a good job of updating their last wins on the road over certain opponents. They beat Barrow for the first time since 1970 and won at Stockport for the first time since 2002. Aside from Wrexham, who they haven't beat away since 1996, their other longest streak(of teams they've played regularly) is Notts County. They last won at Meadow Lane in March 1997, the season they would get promoted to the 2nd tier for the first time. Hopefully that's a good omen to not only win this game, but to repeat history and go up as well.

Ref Watch

Ross Joyce

Another familiar name returns for the 2nd time this season, after taking charge of the Alex's 2-0 win over Tranmere back in October. As I said in that games preview, he's no stranger to his cards, averaging 4.4 in his 27 games thus far. He is also quick to dish out a red, showing 2 for Tranmere and 9 across the whole season.

2023/24 Record: 27 games(13 League One, 11 League Two, 1 FA Cup, 2 EFL Trophy), 120 yellows, 9 reds

Last Game: Reading 2-0 Port Vale, 20th February 2024, 0 yellows

Crewe Alex Record: 7-3-5, 20 yellows

Injuries/Absences

Notts County

County will be missing a couple for this one, but most are depth players. The biggest is Matty Palmer, who is out for the season with a knee injury. Aside from him, the likes of Junior Morais and Will Randall will be out, but they've hardly been involved due to various issues. I hope the Alex have inserted a "cannot play against parent club" stipulation in Charlie Colkett's loan agreement. Wonder who he's rooting for in this one?

Crewe Alex

Another mixed week on the injury front. On the plus side, Joel Tabiner has rejoined the squad, so should make the bench for this game. That's a huge boost. But on the flip side, they've likely lost Luke Offord for the rest of the season with ankle ligament damage. That will probably curtail his Alex career. A massive blow and a shame it's ended like this for him.

Conor Thomas looks to be also back with the main group and available for selection, but Zac Williams and Charlie Finney are likely 1-2 weeks away from returning to training it seems. That leaves Offord, Powell and Lunt as their long term absentees, with Chris Long also several weeks away.

Team

I would be shocked if Conor Thomas didn't come back into the starting XI for Offord. The back 4 and keeper once again stay the same and Holicek and Austerfield remain in midfield alongside Thomas. But I am once again asking them not to start Nevitt and CBR upfront. It doesn't work. They have no understanding of the other's play and it just leads to confusion. Plus it leaves them little on the bench to freshen things up.

The temptation to start Kirk will be strong, but I'm not convinced he's at the point where he can give you 60 minutes. And what they'd bring off the bench to replace him is a massive downgrade. However, the form of Tracey and Rowe isn't great. So what do you do? Personally, I'm starting those 2 either side of CBR and I'm bringing Kirk and Nevitt off the bench in the 2nd half. I don't want those 2 burning themselves out chasing the ball.

Score Prediction

Whilst Notts County have been in poor form and are stuttering under their new boss, they still have the quality to rip apart even the best of defences. I'm hoping though with the Alex playing with new found confidence on the road that they can get at the Magpies and cause them problems. I'm hoping for an open entertaining game.

Notts County 2-2 Crewe Alexandra