Notts County face AFC Fylde tonight in the National League as Neal Ardley’s men look to go nine games unbeaten and close the gap on those above them in the table.

The Magpies currently fifth and in the playoffs, four points below Bromley in fourth face a Fylde side in the relegation places and without a win in six in the league although they did convincingly beat National North outfit Southport 4-1 in the FA Trophy on Saturday.

Ahead of the game Notts Manager Neal Ardley suggested that Fylde will be no push overs stating “They’ve not got what they’ve deserved in a lot of games. They haven’t got their just desserts.”

“People say the league table doesn’t lie but sometimes it does.”

“It might not look like it because they’re in the bottom four at the moment but, with the quality of their players and the results they should have got, they’re a top six team.”

“That will be my team talk to the boys – they need to understand they’re playing a side with the potential to be in the top six.”

Fylde have had issues with their playing surface at Mill Farm which has deteriorated in recent weeks following drainage issues with Manager Jim Bentley stating ““The pitch is shot, which is disappointing because we have a lot of talented footballers and we want to play the right way.”

Notts have Pierce Bird available after he was cup-tied at the weekend with Sean Shields likely to miss out. Fylde have recent signing Tom Walker from Salford City set to make his debut whilst club top goalscorer Danny Rowe has handed in a transfer request following sitting out the win against Southport as an unused substitute on Saturday.

Notts have already beaten Fylde this season when Damien McCrory and Wes Thomas helped the Magpies to a 2-0 win which would again do nicely if history repeats itself tonight.

Kick Off is at 7:45pm.

In other news following Saturday’s dramatic last minute win against Dagenham & Redbridge in the FA Trophy Notts will now visit Yeovil Town in the third round on Saturday 8^th February with the originally planned league game against Torquay United set to be rescheduled for a later date.

*Main image @GuisleyAFC the fabulous modern Mill Farm Stadium home of AFC Fylde.