Although gutted about last night's loss to promotion rivals Bournemouth, Neal Bishop has pin-pointed a number of key fixtures to propel Notts back into the top-three.

The defeat saw the Magpies lose ground on the League Two high-flyers, though the Cherries still have to visit Meadow Lane, along with the likes of Rochdale and Bury.

Bishop knows that there are still plenty of opportunities for the squad to close the gap on the division's leading pack over the coming months.

He said: "I don't think we can afford to let it get to us with the amount of big games we've got coming up.

"It was a big three points to lose, we're not going to pretend it wasn't, but we've got them at our place.

"We've got other teams around us at home as well and there's plenty of points to play for.

"We can't rely on the games in hand to pick up points, they don't mean we've got points in the bag."

The industrious midfielder believes that the side can prove their mental toughness by following up the disappointment with a run of wins.

He added: "Big teams, when they win games, they put it behind them and go on to get another.

"When they lose games, they quickly put that aside and go another run of four or five unbeaten.

"We'll put that to bed, we'll enjoy Sunday and then get back to the nitty-gritty.

"Hopefully come back by winning four or five on the bounce like good teams do."

Bishop also netted for the first time in County colours, slamming past Shwan Jalal in a more encouraging second period.

Notts' number ten declared that he would have swapped the consolation strike for a share of the spoils at Dean Court.

"It's obviously great to score my first goal but I would've swapped it for three points or even a point," he explained.

"I'm just sorry that we couldn't pull it back and I'm not that bothered the goal to be honest, I'm just gutted we didn't get anything.

"But we've got to put this behind us and focus on the cup now."