Neal Ardley: Notts County will continue hard work in relegation battle - 7M sport

Neal Ardley: Notts County will continue hard work in relegation battle



Posted Sunday, March 31, 2019 by PA

Neal Ardley: Notts County will continue hard work in relegation battle

Neal Ardley believes the seminal moment is still to come for his Notts County team after they hauled themselves off the bottom of League Two with a 3-0 win at Stevenage.

Jim O’Brien’s deflected strike inside 40 seconds was followed up by first-half goals from Kane Hemmings and Enzio Boldewijn as the Magpies moved level on points with 22nd-placed Yeovil with their second away win in four games.

Ardley has been tasked with rebuilding confidence as the EFL’s oldest club teeters on the brink of relegation and the Meadow Lane boss believes his troops produced a statement of intent at the Lamex Stadium – even if the hard work is still to come.

“Nothing’s significant until May 4,” said Ardley.

“I can keep saying the same things but we’ve got six games to go and we’re working really, really hard.

“We have the extra burden of the history of this club and the pressure – let’s get behind them because these last four games have been magnificent.

“We’ve played Carlisle, Exeter and Stevenage on the verge of the play-offs, and we’ve been the better team by a comfortable margin.

“The consistency is there and the boys need a bit of praise for that.

“They’re in a pressurised situation and sometimes, you miss your chances or the odd player has a bad game.

“My job this week was to restore confidence and I said to them before the game: ‘You’ve been the better team the last three games, your form’s good, keep it going’.

“Sometimes, you need something to happen on the pitch for them to free flow and that was the early goal today.

“(Against Stevenage) the work-rate was still there, the organisation we’ve had over the last few months was still there, and the boys are in a good place.”

O’Brien tried his luck from 25 yards inside the opening minute and saw his strike divert into the net before the midfielder set up Hemmings to make it 2-0.

Jon Stead then laid the ball on a plate for Boldewijn to wrap things up before the break.

Stevenage boss Dino Maamria could not help but point to the early moment when his team were caught cold, however.

“It all started in the first minute, really. You come into a game and you have to start the first 15 well – and we didn’t,” he said.

“We’re playing a team at the bottom of the league. We’ve spoken about playing against teams at the bottom. They’re low on confidence.

“If you score an early goal, you probably go on to win the game comfortably.

“If you give them something to hang onto, then you give them something to fight for and that’s the story of the day.

“It was a very disappointing performance and a very flat performance.”

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