Notts County predicted line-up vs Chesterfield as…

Notts County predicted line-up vs Chesterfield as Magpies prepare for play-off final

With potentially 90 minutes separating Notts County from a return to the Football League, Luke Williams will be finalising his preparations for the National League play-off final against Chesterfield.

The Magpies booked their place at Wembley following a dramatic turnaround over Boreham Wood last Sunday, setting up a date with the Spireites to end their four-year stay in the fifth division.

And with the pre-match nerves slowly building ahead of 3:30pm tomorrow afternoon, many are wondering which players will be selected to start one of the biggest fixtures in Notts' recent history.

In their encounter with Luke Garrard's side, the Magpies head coach named an unchanged starting XI for only the fifth time all campaign, but performances of two players in particular could alter the way in which his side lines-up under the Wembley arch.

Having had his attacking threat nullified for the majority of the contest, Adam Chicksen was replaced by eventual match-winner Jodi Jones - the on-loan Oxford United man setting up Aden Baldwin's injury-time equaliser before scoring in extra-time to spark wild scenes inside Meadow Lane.

And Jones' performance could have some impact on the starting personnel given the impact, with the Malta international also earning his first start since joining from the U's in their 2-1 win over Paul Cook's back in February - Chicksen, however, did score the winner at the Technique Stadium after Jeff King saw red for a late tackle in the second-half.

But what the Zimbabwean has contributed this campaign is not to be ignored, scoring 11 times in all competitions and establishing himself as one of the first names on the team-sheet - if the game follows a similar pattern to the one against Boreham Wood, Jones' impact on the side would be better suited from the bench, rather than the starting line-up.

Another difficult decision that awaits Williams is concerning Sam Austin and Cedwyn Scott. Last week, Austin was used from the start and while putting in a usually busy display, had little affect in the final third, replaced by Scott just after the hour-mark.

Many times this season we have seen the impact the former Kidderminster Harriers midfielder has on games, and you feel as though it would be better suited, similar to Jones, if he was brought in from the start.

The value of experience will also be important - four of the current squad of players were at Notts for their last visit to Wembley that ended in a 3-1 defeat to Harrogate Town - Sam Slocombe, Connell Rawlinson, Richard Brindley, and Jim O'Brien hoping to right their wrongs from three years ago and provide those calming heads amidst all the nerves that could be present in the dressing room.

In his pre-match assessment of the fixture against Chesterfield, Williams explained that he has a fully-fit squad to pick from - but revealed that there were some tired bodies from their play-off semi-final win.

"I am not concerned about anything for the game, but we are still nursing a few bodies - but they trained fully today (Wednesday), and everyone came through that fine.

"We will have more a recovery session before the trip so we will be in a good place for our final preparations on Friday."

Notts County line-up: Slocombe; Cameron, Baldwin, Rawlinson, Chicksen, Nemane; Bostock, Palmer; Rodrigues, Scott, Langstaff.

SUBS: Mair, Brindley, O'Brien, Jones, Austin.

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