Off the back of an impressive home victory against Stockport County, Notts County return to Meadow Lane this evening for another Vanarama National League fixture. Their opponents, in-form Bromley.

Saturday’s victory meant that Notts have re-established an unbeaten run of games, which seemed a whole while away from coming just over three weeks ago. A victory this evening over Bromley would see the magpies increase their unbeaten run to five games, going into the weekend’s big clash with promotion rivals Grimsby Town.

A huge bonus for Ian Burchnall’s side is the reintroduction of Kyle Wootton’s name amongst the scoresheet. The forward had started the season on fine scoring form, netting five times in the opening six games. However, Wootton then found himself on a goalless run of games, failing to find the back of the net for six consecutive games. Goals against Tamworth and Stockport County shows Notts’ number nine may have found his shooting boots, and a goal. this evening could help his side see off Bromley, returning to the Vanarama National League play-off places.

It’d be hard to list the positives for the magpies going into tonight’s fixture without mentioning Frank Vincent. The midfielder defied patience as he was kept waiting for his opportunity to break into Ian Burchnall’s side following his move to the club in the summer. In the past week, Vincent has netted twice and was also provider for Kyle Wootton for his goal against Stockport County. In recent weeks, Notts had seemed to have lacked a driving force from the centre of the field. This turned out to be costly as this was a key factor in the downfall that resulted in the winless run. However, the introduction of Frank Vincent into the side has seemed to have filled the void and the 22-year-old currently finds himself amongst the lips of Notts faithful due to this. Likewise with Kyle Wootton, it is hard to picture Notts’ strongest eleven without the midfielder involved in it.

As for the visitors, they arrive at Meadow Lane with six wins on the bounce. Defeating Barnet, Dover Athletic, Grimsby Town, Weymouth, Torquay United and Aldershot Town, the ravens are looking to make the magpies victim number seven on an impressive winning run, returning to Southeast London with all three points. Tonight’s visitors were trailing twice in their last fixture against Aldershot Town, until a Michael Cheek penalty ensure the victory for Andy Woodman’s side. On the topic of Michael Cheek, he is evidently the man to watch this evening in terms of who Notts County should be most worried about. The forward, who’s tipped as one of the Vanarama National League’s best, has netted nine times thus far this season for the ravens. Cheek is no stranger to a goal at meadow lane either. The attacker netted Bromley’s only goal in 2-1 defeat to the magpies back in January 2020, a game won by Connell Rawlinson in the seventieth minute.

In terms of current league positions, Notts County currently sit eighth, a point a drift of the play-off places. As for Bromley, they sit sixth just three points off second placed Chesterfield.  A win for the magpies tonight could take them as high as third. As for the ravens, a win could see them climb to second. These dependent on results elsewhere.

So, what can you expect from tonight’s game?

I believe you can expect the closest game to transpire at Meadow Lane thus far this season. The away side are no stranger to victories when they matter most and will undoubtedly be hungry to extend their winning run of form. However, the quality within the current Notts County side will cause a problem for all sides in this division. The magpies still yet to lose with a present Kyle Cameron too, emphasising his importance in the side. This along with the additional factors of the forever threatening Ruben Rodrigues, in-form Frank Vincent and Kyle Wootton and a fully fit Cal Roberts is why I see the home side edging this game this evening.

My score prediction: Notts County 1-0 Bromley.

Current form:

• Notts County: LLLWW
• Bromley: WWWWW 

Probable line-ups:

• Notts County: Patterson, Taylor, Brindley, Rawlinson, Cameron, Kelly-Evans, O’Brien, Palmer, Vincent, Rodrigues, Wootton.
• Bromley: Cousins, Bingham, Webster, Sablier, Sowunmi, Bush, Whitely, Trotter, Alexander, Coulson, Cheek.  

Venue & time: 

• Meadow Lane, 7:45pm Tuesday 26th October 2021.

*Article provided by K-Ci Rennicks (Notts County Correspondent).

*Main image @Official_NCFC Notts were beaten at Bromley last time they played eachother in May.