Notts County: AFC Wimbledon must inspire Meadow Lane change | OneFootball

Notts County's victory over AFC Wimbledon at the weekend must spark an improvement in their home form.

Notts County’s 1-0 win against AFC Wimbledon on Saturday must inspire the Magpies’ home form to improve.

Stuart Maynard’s side edged a game that was hard fought but very low on quality, with Matty Platt’s second goal of the season proving to be the difference between the two sides.

The victory marked an invaluable return to winning ways at Meadow Lane, with Notts having lost both of their last two games in NG2.

They will be hoping that Saturday’s win provides the spark for an improvement on home turf, with the Magpies enduring a patchy start to the season on their own pitch.

Notts have had mixed fortunes at home so far this season

The victory over the Wombles has taken Notts’ home record in 2024-25 to three wins, one draw and two defeats, a run of form which currently leaves them with the division’s tenth best home record.

When you consider the fact that the defeats came in particularly narrow fashion against Gillingham and Port Vale (two of the division’s most fancied sides in the early stages of the season), you could argue that it hasn't been the worst start in the world.

And while it isn’t necessarily a bad start to the season, it’s not the sort of home form that is going to be good enough to earn promotion to League One.

Notts’ tally of 10 points from six games at Meadow Lane currently has them on course for roughly 38 points from a possible 69 come the end of the season.

By comparison, that total is lower than all six of the sides who have finished in League Two’s top three most recently. Last season, Stockport, Wrexham and Mansfield earned 50, 54 and 46 points respectively, while 2022-23’s top three, Leyton Orient, Stevenage and Northampton earned 51, 53 and 42 points on their own patch.

With this season already shaping up to be wide open at the top end of the table (there are already just six points separating the top 10), a team’s home form could end up being the difference between a side achieving their ultimate goal or spending another season in the Football League’s basement division.

While it’s fair to say Notts’ home form has been slightly underwhelming so far, all the ingredients are in place for them to make Meadow Lane a fortress.

A huge pitch that allows them the space to move the ball around with purpose and stretch an opposition side, combined with an average attendance of over 11,000 (higher than almost half of Notts' home attendances from the last time they were in the top flight in 1991-92) mean Notts have everything required to make life extremely difficult for visiting sides.

Notts must replicate their National League home form

If Notts are to secure a return to League One football for next season, it's vitally important that they achieve a return to something resembling their form from their National League days.

Obviously, Notts were playing at a lower level of football during their four-year spell outside the Football League, and coming up against what were, in theory at least, weaker opponents.

They were, however, an extremely difficult team to beat at home while they were in non-league.

In their promotion season in 2022-23, Notts failed to win just six of their games at Meadow Lane, while Dagenham and Redbridge were the only side to leave Nottingham with all three points in the league.

In 2021-22, they lost just two games and drew just five, while in their first season down in 2019-20, they also lost just twice on their own patch.

The only season where their home form was weak was the 2020-21 season, which was played almost entirely behind closed doors. The Magpies lost seven times that season, a higher tally than their other three National League seasons combined.