Ahead of this Saturday's opening day of the season, defender Krystian Pearce has revealed that he wants to gain promotion at the first time of asking.

One of the main reasons that the 20-year-old opted to join the County ranks was the desire to aim for the Championship.

Based on what he has seen so far, Pearce is sure that the team can push towards the higher end of the League 1 table this term.

He said: "Obviously I want to play at the highest level myself and there's no reason why this team can't push on and get even higher.

"I didn't want to come here and just stay in League 1, we want to push on.

"We've been given odds of about 6/1 to get promoted, so obviously people see us as a threat, as well, so we've got to live up to that reputation."

This weekend's opponents are Huddersfield Town, Pearce's former club.

The Terriers are being tipped strongly for promotion by Coral, at odds of 2/1, after recruiting strongly in the summer.

However, Pearce feels that Notts can compete with them based on what he's seen from both outfits.

He said: "There's a lot of good players here and a lot of good players there, and the first game of the season will tell us where we're at.

"I'm definitely looking forward to it - it's going to be a big game.

"But there's three other quality centre-backs here that could stop me getting into the team, so I might have to sit out the first game.

"Hopefully I can do enough to show the Manager that I'm good enough to play from the first game."

Coral are offering odds of 13/2 on Notts gaining promotion this year. Click here to place your bets, at the same time supporting your club!