As the dust settles on fixture release day, we chatted to Haydn Hollis, Adam Campbell and Adam Collin to get their reaction to the Magpies fixtures for the coming season...
We asked the three what they made of the opening game against Yeovil, the fixtures they look out for, and how long Tuesday night trips affect them...It's an exciting time of the year to see where we will be playing in that first game of the season and the dates of games, and every person as individuals looks out for fixtures that mean most to them.
It's never nice to be sat at home but the trip to Yeovil is a long one, so it's nice to get it out the way with early on! The adrenaline will be high on the pitch and in the stands so the trip isn't one that concerns me much.
It's very nice to be at home on Boxing Day. I'm sure the fans always look out for a home Boxing Day fixture!
The final game of the season is another long one and hopefully there will be celebrations for us down in South Wales on the last day...
Mansfield away is close to my birthday so I'm very happy with that date, and the home game will be the 1st home game of 2017 (I think!) so that will also be a good occasion as they always are to start the year off.
I also see the two long trips to Plymouth and Exeter on Tuesday nights. It's quite funny what the fixture computer can throw up, with them both being evening games! But I am looking forward to getting stuck into the fixtures now.
Adam Campbell:
Obviously it would have been nice to start with a home game, but last year we started away from home and got a positive result so we'll be going in hoping for the same again.
Mansfield was the first game I looked for, especially after the last game. It's still in the back of my mind so I'm glad we only have to wait 11 games to try and put things right on that front!
Of course it's always nice to end the season at home so again, it's a shame they've gave us a trip to Newport but it will be nice for the manager to go back there and hopefully we will be ready to celebrate the promotion we all want!...
Adam Collin:
It's great to see the fixtures out! A long journey to kick off the season but probably a good thing to get it out the way early on. I played for Carlisle for four years so you get used to those journeys very quickly!
We will travel down the day before those games so we prepare really well, but from a fans point of view they are probably not ideal for going to watch. However, from a players point of view we just get on with it and hope for positive results.
The two local games against Mansfield stand out and they should be a good derby feel them.
Then the final game again is another long trip to Newport but hopefully by then our final league position will be sorted!...