Notts County are out to prove those that have doubted their promotion credentials wrong this weekend, says Alan Judge.
Although the Magpies are enduring a rocky patch at present, the team has two games in hand over many of the sides around them and are just six points away from the top six.
This Saturday, County travel to Fratton Park to take on Portsmouth (3pm kick-off).
Judge wants Notts to send out a message with a positive performance and reaffirm themselves as a force to be reckoned with this season.
“I’ve seen some stuff in one of the newspapers saying that Notts are in ‘freefall’ and it’s ridiculous,” the forward told Magpie Player.
“Six points and we’re back up there and it’s just crazy to hear this talk, for me personally.
“It can affect confidence, because you don’t want to be hearing those kinds of things, but being in this business we can take it.
“When you play football, you have to take the good and the bad, and I think the players will be looking to respond to that kind of talk that we’ve been hearing.”
He continued: “I think this will be a good game on Saturday, because we’ve had the patch and they’re having the trouble with the money.
“It’ll be an exciting game, as they’ve got nothing to lose and we both need the points.
“They’re at home and their crowd’s very good, but we’ve got to make sure that we keep up what we’ve been doing on the road and make sure that we get those three points.”
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