Paul Hart spoke to the media on Friday to preview this weekend's Sky Bet League 1 game against Scunthorpe United...
Acting Academy Manager Paul Hart, who has taken temporary control of the first team alongside Head of Academy Coaching Mick Halsall is confident that the Notts County players have the ability to climb away from the Sky Bet League 1 relegation zone.
Hart spoke to the media on Friday to preview this weekend’s important home game against fellow strugglers Scunthorpe United and said that he had been pleased by the players’ reaction to the departure of both Shaun Derry and Greg Abbott at the start of the week.
When asked how his week had been, the former Notts player joked: “Well I’ve only been in Thursday and Friday, so it’s been great!”
However, Hart admitted that it had been a difficult time for everyone at the club and praised the attitude of the players in the build-up to this weekend’s big game.
“It’s been difficult in terms of losing Shaun and Greg,” he added. “I think we were all very disappointed with that and with me being away the players have not really known what’s going on until yesterday.
“But they’re fine, they’re up for it and they know the task that lies ahead, whoevers in charge of them, so I think we’re fortunate to have such a good, honest group of players.”
The Caretaker Manager confirmed that he saw his new role as being very much temporary, but was happy to help out in any way that he could and was keeping the players’ minds focused on the task in hand.
He continued: “It’s not so much about going forward for me, I’m definitely in for I think one game and it’s filling a gap, so it’s not really a massive issue, one way or another. I’ve got a job to do and if you know me, you know I do that element properly.
“I think we probably need three wins. I said to the players today, don’t build on any undue expectations that are not really important. Fifth from bottom is vital, so I think that’s completely attainable.”
Hart will be without Northern Ireland duo Roy Carroll and Paddy McCourt this weekend, as both players are away on international duty and he joked: “With me working with the young players, I’m not always au fait with everything that’s going on higher up.
“So when this was mentioned and then suddenly I got told that two players are missing, it became less of an enchanting idea at that point, but it is what it is!”
Looking specifically at this weekend’s game, Hart was asked how much he knew about our opponents Scunthorpe and he replied: “I know enough. And then it’s about what we do. That’s the way I’ve always worked. If we do what we can do, I don’t think there’ll be a problem.”
Subscribers can watch the full pre-match media session with Paul Hart on Magpie Player.