Neal Ardley: Magpies must roll up our sleeves and do something amazing

Neal Ardley believes Notts County can prove the doubters wrong as they embark on a “mini-season” aiming for survival as a Football League club.

The Magpies moved off the bottom of Sky Bet League Two with a 3-1 win at play-off hopefuls Carlisle, battling to victory in appalling conditions.

Ardley admitted his pre-match team-talk at Brunton Park was provided for him by a fan’s message.

He said: “It came in a well-written email. I’ve done more stirring talks recently than I’ve ever done. This was a message saying what he expected of the boys and I thought that was what I needed to say.

“We have a mini-season ahead of us and we will take each game like a cup final and work out how we are going to play and find ways of winning games of football.

“We have to roll up our sleeves and do something amazing.

“It was brutal out there. I’ve never managed a team in conditions like that,” he said.

“We played well and caused them lots of problems. We knew one goal might not be enough in the first half, but we played better against the wind than they did.

“We had to dig in and it shows what kind of character we can produce. We just need to produce it more often.

“We played with a lot of energy, more than Carlisle, and all I can ask is that they go out with that discipline and work-rate.”

Ardley had Kane Hemmings to thank for the Magpies’ first two goals, and he added: “Kane leading the line like he did today is a real positive.”

Hallam Hope pulled one back for Carlisle with a cheeky effort, nipping round behind goalkeeper Ryan Schofield as he prepared to kick clear, stealing the ball and rolling it into an empty net.

But Lewis Alessandra raced away from the halfway line to slot home a third in added time after Carlisle goalkeeper Adam Collin had gone up for a corner.

Carlisle manager Steven Pressley was unable to hide his disappointment, and said: “It was a game dictated by the weather, based more on character than tactics, and they had more than us.

“We went into it on the back of a good result and I was very, very disappointed. It told me a lot of things about some of the players.

“I have only been here a couple of months and I’m still learning. We won’t get promotion playing like that.”

Pressley added: “I don’t know what was in their mindset. We can’t give away goals like that. Even then we could have gone on to win it, but we didn’t have the composure and we were not good on any part of the pitch.”

Defeat was a blow to Carlisle’s play-off hopes, and Pressley admitted: “It was a big opportunity and we passed it up.”