Luke Williams has admitted he has seen a drop in intensity from his Notts County side over the last couple of weeks, insisting he and his staff are doing all they can to continue their title push.
The Magpies have taken just five points from their opening three league games of 2023, while also being knocked out of the FA Trophy last weekend on penalties by Maidstone at Meadow Lane.
During the 42-year-old's tenure at the club, many of the players have highlighted the intensity which the Notts boss has instilled into his side, but could that become a hindrance as they seek National League promotion at the fourth time of asking?
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Speaking after the defeat to George Elokobi's side on Sunday afternoon, Williams explained that a number of his players were carrying niggling injuries that resulted in them not being risked for this weekend's top-of-the-table clash with Chesterfield at the Technique Stadium.
The likes of John Bostock, Richard Brindley, and Cedwyn Scott were all rested ahead of the short trip up the M1, with many expecting to see those players in their FA Trophy defeat.
While Williams understood the concerns surrounding his squad's intensity in recent weeks, the Magpies boss explained that it would be 'crazy' to change his approach given where it has got his side in the opening 27 games of the season.
"Myself and the staff have been talking a lot about that recently, and ultimately we are where we are because a lot of it is down to the intensity of the guy's work.
"We have to be brave enough to continue that, it would be crazy to change.
"Of course, we have to manage the guys and we give them the recovery time when we can, and we have to trust players to go in and perform at a high level if they have been out of the team for a while.
"We have seen great examples of that this season, we have seen players come in after being side-lined for several weeks and made a brilliant performance and that is down to the intensity that we train with otherwise those guys cannot come in from the cold and perform at such a high level.
"We have to manage it as we go along but not losing what we are, and I feel like our intensity has dropped to some degree, but we have to push through that now to find the energy and intensity.
"And as staff, we have to manage individually the guys and their workload in a different way than we did earlier on in the season, we're aware of that.
"It's a case of pitches changing and going from firm to soft, you can never anticipate the opposition's pitch and sometimes it is drastically different to the surface that we play on at Meadow Lane and the surface we train on day in, day out.
"These things at this time of year for every squad of players will always take its toll and it's how we manage that and how we smart we can be.
"And it's about how ready all of the players are in the squad to make sure that they come in and make a brilliant performance for when they come in."
The Magpies' defeat to Maidstone on Sunday saw them knocked out of both cup competitions this season, meaning the sole focus has now been put on promotion from the National League.
One question that surfaced following the penalty shootout defeat was why both Jim O'Brien and Macaulay Langstaff were not introduced before the subsequent penalty shootout loss.
Aden Baldwin, Connell Rawlinson, Kairo Mitchell, Sam Austin, and Ed Francis all dispatched their spot-kicks before Matty Palmer saw his effort saved, sending George Elokobi's side through to the fifth round of the competition.
And the Notts boss was on hand to detail the reasoning behind that decision, insisting that he had one eye on this weekend's fixture with the Spireites.
"I think honestly that we had enough on the pitch," said Williams.
"When you look at how the first four were dispatched brilliantly then Matty Palmer, nobody would expect him to miss a penalty, but of course, anyone can miss a penalty that's no problem.
"You wouldn't have any qualms about Matty taking one and we still had Baj to take one, but I think there was enough experience and quality on the pitch to win the penalty shootout, I don't think the penalties were a disaster by any stretch of the imagination.
"Jim has been suffering a little bit with his shoulder as well and so I felt like we were on the front foot in the second half of the game and I thought we had enough on the pitch to possibly go on and win the game in normal time, so I didn't feel like it was a great moment for Jim to go on the pitch.
"Macca I felt as though we had more than enough on the pitch to get over the line, and I didn't want to risk him in that game because he is so crucial for us.
"With him being on the pitch, it would give the guys on the pitch a real confidence and belief that we have always got goals in us with Macca on the pitch.
"But I felt it wasn't the right decision, by maybe in hindsight Macca could have found an opening and scored the winner, but hindsight is a brilliant thing because it's so perfect."
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