Matt Palmer 'brimming with confidence' after first Notts County start in 11 months
Matt Palmer was brimming with positive emotions after his first Notts County start in 11 months after coming back from a serious knee injury.
The 29-year-old led the Magpies out from the start for the first time having been appointed club captain in the summer, and after a disastrous start at Bromley going two goals down, Notts recovered with four goals to win and go top of League Two.
County returned to the summit of the fourth tier for the first time since last October, with Jodi Jones capping off the news of his new Notts deal with two goals on the afternoon, only adding to what was another great afternoon for the club.
Having come off the bench in the last few games, Palmer was delighted to finally get his start and overcome the final hurdle of his long recovery journey.
“It’s a brilliant feeling,” explained Palmer. “It has been a long road with lots of hurdles, and coming off the bench in the last month has been nice but it’s not the same as what I’m used to and I find it more difficult coming on as a substitute.
“I’ve been my confidence back up in that time though to get to this point - it was so nice to lead the team out and to get the win made it even better. My fitness has been fine, the previous month has been about building that up, but with the injury I had, it is more about overcoming the mental aspect.
“Especially in the position I play in, you need to be able to commit to challenges and be in those physical battles, so it is all about building that confidence up and I felt good out there.”
Notts have yet to lose in the league this season - the only team left in the fourth tier with an unbeaten record - and have won four in a row, scoring a league-high 14 goals in just six matches.
Head coach Stuart Maynard could not have asked for a much better start and he can now welcome his new captain back into the starting lineup, with Palmer reflecting positively on what the team have achieved so far.
He added: “It wasn’t the ideal start to the game and when it is your first start back, you want things to go a bit more smoothly than they did to begin with.
“We showed good character, something that we maybe didn’t have last season. It was a tough game, Bromley is a hard place to come to and they make it so passing the ball here is difficult, but I felt we dealt with the circumstances well.
“We don’t want to go behind in games because we want to make it as easy as possible for ourselves, but it is a good characteristic to have as a team [to come back from behind].
“We’ve started really well and it is nice to be sitting top of the league after six games. It’s still early days in the season, but it’s something to build on. We’ve got a very good squad and numbers-wise we’re probably in a better shape than last season so it is a good time to be involved with the club.”