Luke Williams insists that his Notts County side should not underestimate the threat of Altrincham this weekend as they look to maintain their excellent start to the season.
The Robins had picked up just five points from their opening nine games before their victory over Aldershot at Moss Lane last Saturday, with Ryan Colclough's second half penalty enough to secure Phil Parkinson's side their first three points of the campaign.
And while the Magpies will be favourites to continue their return to form following their defeat to Dorking Wanderers, the Notts boss expects a tough test for his side.
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Speaking ahead of the fixture at Meadow Lane, Williams used both clubs' games against Dagenham and Redbridge this season, highlighting that Altrincham were perhaps unlucky to be on the receiving end of a 4-1 defeat.
"They should be buoyed by that result against Aldershot because they have played far better than the position that they are in the league," examined Williams.
"They won't finish the league in that position, and for example if you look at the game they played against Dagenham, they were on the receiving end of a 4-1 defeat.
"Dagenham of course, as we know are actually a tough opponent and they caught us on a good day, we probably caught them on a bad day, but Altrincham were more than comfortable to be 2-0 up before they even conceded a goal.
"They conceded a goal and continued to make good openings. They conceded again and continued to create openings and they were very unfortunate in that particular game.
"Watching two other performances of theirs, you can see that they have big threats, and I am not surprised that they won their first game last week, I am surprised it took that long."
While Notts have a favourable record against their opponents in recent seasons, the Magpies suffered their first defeat of the 2021/22 National League campaign against Altrincham, with Marcus Dinagana's goal enough to end their unbeaten run after eight games.
And Williams expects a similar test for his players on Saturday and revealed what message he has provided to his squad ahead of kick-off.
"The message to the squad is, don't look at the league position and read anything into that," Williams added. "We showed the squad the quality of the actions that they have created in a few of their games that they didn't win, and I think everyone can see the threat that they have."
A win could see Notts move top of the National League table, if both Chesterfield and Wrexham lose Maidenhead and Oldham respectively and would set up a mouth-watering tie with The Dragons at Meadow Lane on Tuesday evening.
