Notts County Player/Coach Alan Smith has spoken of his delight at the commitment shown by his team-mates this season...
Smith, who joined the club as Player/Coach in the summer has been delighted with the team spirit that has already been built amongst the newly-assembled squad and hopes that it will provide a platform for even better things to come.
He told the assembled media on Monday: "I think anyone who was there on Saturday and against Peterborough as well has seen performances that are more from a team that you would think had been together a lot longer than we have been.
"We’ve worked on it a lot, keeping our shape and keeping our positions and I think some people look at it and see a team who have been together for a while, even though during that time we’ve had to make changes in significant areas.
"To have a back four that’s so young and done so well will stand us in good stead because we’re all still learning each other’s games, so to get that solid base and that foundation so early on will stand is in good stead to hopefully progress into the season."
Smith feels that the confidence that the team have built up in securing four successive draws of late will serve them well in the coming weeks, adding: "If you can go into any game knowing that you’re difficult to beat, it gives you that belief that we can always pick up results and I think that that’s been the formula for us away from home.
"I think that you can see that everyone is committed to playing for the shirt and I think that that’s massive, I think we’ve bridged that gap between player and supporter because everybody can see which direction we’re trying to go in and that’s to try and create a culture where everyone’s singing from the same hymn sheet and I think that’s going to be massive because there’s no one outstanding talent in this team and whichever 11 the Gaffer picks will do a job for the club and that’s the main thing."
To watch the full interview on Magpie Player click here