John Gannon felt Notts County's downfall in the 1-1 draw with Morecambe on Saturday was simple; Notts didn't take their chances at key times, and it almost proved very costly.

Richard Butcher's late goal for the third week running saved a point for the Magpies to maintain the unbeaten start to the season, and while the second half was frustrating for Notts against a resilient Morecambe side the first half provided what Gannon felt was Notts' best showing of the season.

"In the first half I thought we played the best we have played all season, creating numerous opportunities - but we didn't take them," said the Notts Assistant Manager.

"You can't just point at Hector Sam's open-goal miss, because we had others. He didn't mean to miss it, but it didn't go in this time. If we had gone ahead, I think we would have gone on to get a win.

"We didn't take one and we were disappointed, and missing golden chances like we did we put pressure on ourselves, especially when they take the lead and then it produces a sort of environment we have seen on a number of occasions here.

"When you are playing well you have to take your chances, otherwise it can prove costly. The second half we lost our nerve, despite trying to keep them calm and relaxed."

Notts did seem lacking in confidence for the majority of the second period and Gannon admitted it was 30 minutes to make the skin crawl, but he praised the players for getting back into the game.

He said: "We lost the nerve and the fans got on our backs, which is a vicious circle. It was 30 minutes that made your skin crawl, but in the last ten minutes we got a goal, got back into it and had the belief to go on and win it.

"We discovered our confidence. It was a big test of nerve and looked like we were feeling sorry for ourselves, and we need to deal with coping with the pressure.

"Obviously we haven't got that first win, but we're still unbeaten as well. We've not had much luck with injuries and suspensions, but we will keep going."

On Butcher, who bagged his fourth of the season, Gannon was grateful once again for his contribution.

"Butch has done fabulous for us," said Gannon.

"He arrived in the box late to score with a great header and he has been doing that quite often lately and got the end of a number of chances.

"He pushed up again like last week against Darlington, and got a crucial goal at a crucial time again."

England's Under 19's take on Belarus' Under 19's at Meadow Lane in an International friendly on Tuesday 11th September, Kick-Off 7:45pm, with tickets now available to purchase from the Notts County Ticket Office. Adult tickets cost £3 when purchasing in advance, and £5 on the night. Children's tickets cost just £1 and group bookings of 15 people are more at priced at 50p per ticket. More details can be found by Clicking Here.