Stuart Maynard aiming for fourth win in five games to signs off Notts County season on a high

While results have not always fallen the way of Notts County since his arrival, Stuart Maynard believes the general performance level of the team is encouraging. The Magpies’ first season back in the EFL comes to a close this weekend away at already-relegated Forest Green Rovers, with the hope for Maynard being that his team can end the campaign with a fourth win in five games.

Notts have started to pick up results to back up their performances, but, in the end, it was too little, too late, to recover the lost ground on the top seven from the steep drop in form during the first three months of 2024.

A win on Saturday would allow the club to finish the season with a positive mindset and give Maynard more solid ground to stand on as he is given more time to reflect on his first few months in charge.

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County’s head coach said: “It is very manic at first, and I’ve said before that it is very difficult for any management team to come into a club in the middle of a season and implant their ideas on the group.

“I think our general performance level has been good, but the results have not been good enough, especially in the early stages of our time here. When you digest and go through a lot of the games, I think we’ve deserved more than we’ve gotten with the amount of chances we’ve created.

“Goals change games and they can affect the view on a performance if the result ends up not being what you wanted. The most pleasing thing at the moment is that we are starting to see what we believe is our team and our identity as coaching staff.”

While the good form came too late to recover a play-off push this term, the aim will be to carry any momentum forward into preparations for next season, which will revolve around building a team that can, at the very least, challenge for promotion.

The last performance was the most complete so far in the eyes of Maynard, which encourages him moving into the summer as he sees a team that is looking more confident in playing how he wants them to.

Maynard added: “Last Saturday [against Colchester] was our most complete performance in terms of how we pressed, recovered the ball and smothered the opposition in the final third. It was a clean sheet well earned and that is something we’ll aim for more consistently [next season].

“It’s about learning the dynamics of the club when you come in and how everything operates both on and off the pitch. The staff that were already here have been really helpful and supportive during difficult periods which we’re coming out the other side of now.

“We’re stronger for what we went through these last few months which is pleasing for us to see and to feel as we finish this season then switch our focus to what is ahead.”