Gary Johnson’s men return to action at Plainmoor on Saturday when Notts County come to town.
With Notts County currently occupying one of the coveted Play-Off berths, United will be hoping for a positive result at the weekend in order to strengthen their own aspirations of taking part in the post-season asction.
Who’s the Boss?
Following eight years in the Scandinavian top tiers, Ian Burchnall arrived at Meadow Lane in March 2021 following managerial spells at Viking (Norway) and Ostersund (Sweden), and is renowned as one of the game’s brightest young coaches despite having never played professionally himself.
After a mixed start at the helm at Notts County, including seven defeats in his first nine games, his side recovered to secure a position in the National League play offs at the conclusion of last season, where they overcame Chesterfield at the eliminator stages, before succumbing to a 4-2 defeat after extra time at Plainmoor in the semi-final.
Leicester-born Burchnall began coaching during his sports science degree and following graduation, he began coaching the men’s football team at the University of Leeds, where he remained for seven years, before moving on to Bradford City’s academy.
How have they been doing?
With a mixed bag of results in recent weeks, Burchnall’s Magpies have picked up form in their last four games, following their 3-0 defeat to league leaders Stockport on 15 March, and are unbeaten in their last four following victories over Dagenham & Redbridge (2-1), Boreham Wood (1-0), Southend (3-0), and a 1-1 draw over Chesterfield.
Currently 6th in the National League, the Nottinghamshire side recently contested in the quarter final of the FA Trophy, with a late goal by Wrexham denying the side progression into the final four with a 2-1 loss.
Player to Watch
Midfielder Harry Arter arrived on loan from Championship side Notts Forest in March and will remain at Meadow Lane until May, after previously spending the first part of the season on loan at Charlton Athletic.
Arter began his career in the youth ranks at Charlton Athletic, where he made his professional debut in September 2007. Upon his departure from The Valley, Arter enjoyed a successful season at Woking in the Conference South where he made 44 appearances before being snapped up by Bournemouth ahead of the 2010/11 campaign.
The Republic of Ireland International, who currently has 19 caps, established himself as a mainstay in the Cherries’s first team where he tallied 256 games during his 10 year stay on the South coast across League One, the Championship, and Premier League.
His latter years at Bournemouth saw the 32-year-old enjoy loan spells at Cardiff City and Fulham, with Arter being part of the Fulham side that earned promotion to the Premier League in 2019/20. Arter signed for Notts Forest in September 2020 and following a loan stint at Charlton earlier this season which saw him make 6 appearances, the midfielder opted for a move to Meadow Lane in March in a bid for more game time.
Played for Both
Kevin Nicholson is well known to the Yellow Army having both played and managed the club in two spells at Plainmoor. His first stint saw him rack up over 300 appearances across seven years between 2007 and 2014, before his second spell saw him return as player-manager in 2015.
Having begun his career at Sheffield Wednesday, Nicholson went on to play for the likes of Northampton, Scarborough, Forest Green Rovers, and enjoyed a three year stint at Notts County between 2001 and 2004.
Previous Encounter
Torquay United 2 – 2 Notts County, 24th April 2021, National League.
United staged a remarkable late fightback to salvage a 2-2 draw against Notts County on a dramatic afternoon at Plainmoor. Dion Kelly-Evans gave County a first-half lead, and that was built upon shortly after the restart, with Mark Ellis marking his return to Plainmoor with his team’s second. A Connor Lemonheigh-Evans strike gave Gary Johnson’s side some hope, and just when all hope seemed lost, The Gulls summoned every last ounce of their fighting spirit to level the scores in the dying stages through Ben Wynter.
The Magpies opened the scoring seven minutes before the interval. Joe Lewis initially did well to hold off the attentions off Jim O’Brien by the touchline, however with the County man recovering, the ball was reworked to the edge of the box to Kelly-Evans, who dispatched his shot low through a crowd of players to give his side the lead.
It was former United defender Ellis who doubled the advantage in the second half. A County corner was directed to the back stick where Ellis fended off attention to send in a header, and although Asa Hall blocked the first effort, he was powerless to stop the second. Johnson’s men responded by visibly upping the ante, but had to wait until the 75th minute to break through.
Billy Waters, on as a substitute, found space on the left to cut back and send in an excellent right-footed cross towards the far post, which Lemonheigh-Evans finished with a confident volley to reduce the arrears, 2-1.
After spending the final minutes of the game with ten men, it was in the eighth minute of stoppage time that a long throw into the box left Wynter with just enough space to hack his opportunist effort towards goal amid a good old-fashioned scramble, with the officials all agreeing that the ball had crossed the line to leave the final score at 2-2 and force a share of the points.