OF the 23 teams that Newport County AFC faced last season, the best that they faced was one that finished in the bottom half of the table and just six points and four places ahead of them.
Notts County ended up 14th in League Two last season after failing to match Wrexham’s feat in getting back-to-back promotions.
That was partly down to the departure of Luke Williams to Swansea and most definitely because of defensive frailties.
However, the Magpies were – and still are – among the easiest on the eye of all the EFL clubs. They are something that County owner Huw Jenkins aspires to be.
Last season they gave the Exiles a pair of Jodi Jones-inspired batterings that were more comprehensive than the 3-0 and 3-1 scorelines suggested.
The success at Meadow Lane was arguably the lowest point of Graham Coughlan’s tenure with the boss extremely deflated after the game, even more than after the eighth straight loss to finish the season at Bradford.
County were overrun in the East Midlands in October when Dan Crowley and a Macauley Langstaff double secured the spoils for the hosts, who really should have scored more than three.
Notts had 67 per cent of the ball, made 602 passes to Newport’s 293 with an 82 per cent pass success rate, fired in 18 shots but just four were on target and they hit the crossbar.
Of their starters, only forwards Crowley, Langstaff and Junior Morias made fewer passes than the leading Exiles player Bryn Morris (39).
County’s miserable evening was compounded by a serious injury to Josh Seberry that ended his promising start to life as a professional (and the young Irish defender is now, somewhat bizarrely, on the fringes and looking set for the exit).
Jones – who is out until the new year with a fractured shin – was man of the match at Meadow Lane and he repeated the feat at Rodney Parade in February.
The winger provided another pair of goals for Langstaff with David McGoldrick scoring the other before a Will Evans penalty consolation at the death.
That success was Notts’ first under Stuart Maynard – their promotion challenge had faltered by then – and was just as comprehensive as the one on home soil.
The Magpies had 59.5 per cent of the ball, made 547 passes to Newport's 352 with an 86 per cent success rate.
The shot count was misleading with the Exiles having 14 to the visitors 12; it was eight to none in the last quarter when the spoils had been decided and the sting had been taken out of the game.
The Exiles, just at Meadow Lane, also suffered a what would turn out to be a hugely costly injury when captain Ryan Delaney limped off with a knee problem.
It would turn out to be the centre-back’s last appearance for the club and his absence was a key contributing factor to the miserable run-in.
Notts thrashed Newport twice last season and head coach Nelson Jardim will have been racking his brains about how to avoid the same fate as manager Coughlan against the Magpies.
There will be no Jones through injury while Macauley Langstaff left for Millwall in the summer for big money.
However, Saturday’s hosts will be boosted by the return of influential striker Alassana Jatta from international duty with Gambia – he has scored 10 goals in 13 outings in all competitions.
Notts spent their summer with the priority of addressing their defensive shortcomings with a raft of new recruits in that department but they remain the division’s best passing side.
They are ranked first for average possession (64.6 per cent, Newport 18th on 45.9) and accurate passes (486.6, Newport 14th on 245) while their preference for keeping it on the deck is shown by them being ranked last for accurate long balls per match (18.8, Newport 20th on 22.4).
Notts are sixth for goals per match (1.4, Newport 13th on 1.2), third for expected goals (24.8, Newport 19th on 15.1), fifth for big chances (37, Newport 8th on 31), third for shots on target per match (4.7, Newport 23rd on 2.8) and fourth for touches in opposition box (343, Newport last on 214).
Just like last season, the Magpies are a creative and cunning side packed with individual talents.
County travel to Nottingham after one of their better performances in possession of the season against Grimsby; they had 58.9 per cent of the ball and had a pass count of 468 that was almost double their season average.
Their deepest outfield six all had high pass tallies - right-back Cameron Evans 46, left-back Shane McLoughlin 68, centre-backs Matt Baker 51 and Ciaran Brennan 48 and midfielders Bryn Morris 58 and Aaron Wildig 45 (ended early due to injury).
It will be more of a test against Notts and the Exiles will have to stay switched on in defence and protect possession to give themselves a breather.
The likely loss of Wildig – the full extent of his injury is expected to be revealed at Jardim’s press conference on Friday – means a slight change of approach but it won’t be dramatic.
Last season’s game at Newport was when Coughlan received some advice from the back of the stand about changing to 4-4-2, a suggestion that got a loud, unprintable and understandable reaction from the Irishman.
It would be a surprise if Jardim changes from his 4-5-1, but the head coach will be contemplating every option in the bid to stop Notts getting in their flow.
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