Manager Shaun Derry cannot wait for Notts County to perform in front of a home audience for the first time this pre-season when they take on Derby County.
The Magpies’ opening friendlies, against Arnold Town, Nuneaton Town, Mansfield Town and Rolls Royce Leisure, have all been played on away turf.
At 1pm on Saturday 19 July, Notts will take to the Meadow Lane pitch for a difficult encounter with the Rams.
“Obviously Derby just missed out on promotion to the Premier League at the very last minute and they had a fantastic season last year,” he told the official site.
“I know what Steve McLaren is like to work for and I’m sure he’ll have his Derby team fully prepared for another promotion push.
“It’s a local derby as well, which is great, and the stadium’s looking nice, the pitch is looking nice and it’s the first time that we can show people the new players.
“I’m looking forward to it, it’ll be a tough test for us.”
He added: “I don’t think you can look too far for a harder game in our preparations - it’s a very well drilled Derby team.
“I’m looking for improvements and I want to see that the boys can implement on a matchday what we’ve tried to work on all week.
“We’ve trained really well and even though I’ve been a little bit disappointed with certain aspects of games but saying that we can take some positives from them as well.”
Get down to Meadow Lane for the 1pm kick-off. Full ticket details can be found by clicking here.