Luke Williams has warned his Notts County side that they would be foolish to underestimate Halifax Town this weekend, despite their opponents not scoring yet this season.
The Magpies travel to West Yorkshire off the back of a 2-2 draw with Chesterfield at Meadow Lane, hoping to continue their unbeaten start to the new National League campaign.
The Shaymen finished one place above Notts last season, taking four points from a possible six against the Magpies, but one draw and three defeats have left them rooted to the bottom of the table after just four games this term.
Halifax lost manager Pete Wild to League Two side Barrow following their National League play-off defeat to Chesterfield, along with the departures of Billy Waters to link up with his former manager, and club captain Niall Maher, who joined Grimsby Town following their promotion into the EFL.
Despite the loss of three key components to their side, Williams insisted that his side will not underestimate the challenge Halifax will give their side, explaining that their league position does not replicate their performances.
"It is still very early in the season, so I think it would be foolish to judge this team at this stage," explained Williams.
"They are not going to lay down and let us have things how we want them, they are going to have a plan for us and they are going to be a dangerous opposition.
"We have watched them and they have been unlucky not to have scored goals and they could have come away as winners in any of those games, so we know we are going there for a tough game.
"We know there are good players there, maybe they have had a little bit of a hangover after a long season and getting so close to achieving promotion, but we need to be on our guard because they are not in the position that they should be."
Transfer rumours continue to circulate, and the Magpies have been linked with adding another goalkeeper to their ranks, with Leicester City's Brad Young reportedly on Notts' radar.
The 20-year-old signed for the Foxes from Hartlepool in 2021, and Williams provided an update on a potential transfer to Meadow Lane this season.
"We played Leicester as you know in pre-season and we thought he was very interesting for us," said Williams.
"We have tried to monitor him more and hopefully if it is the right thing for both parties then maybe we can make that deal happen and if that's the case, we will all be very pleased, myself and the staff who have been looking at him."
One of the main injury concerns for Notts going into their game with Halifax Town this weekend is Aden Baldwin.
The defender limped off in the final 15 minutes of their 2-2 draw with Chesterfield last weekend with a reoccurrence of an Achilles injury that he picked up against Boreham Wood.
But Williams was able to provide a positive update on the progression of the 25-year-olds fitness, but explained that his minutes will need to be managed with two games coming in three days over the August Bank Holiday.
"He trained, and we feel like we are getting on top of the issue, we don't know whether he is going to be able to play two games so close together.
"We have to keep a very close eye on it, but we are in a better position than we expected to be, far better.
"Aden came through two days of training well so that is really positive for us."
