Notts County have solution to recent issues - it requires star man being at his best v AFC Wimbledon | OneFootball

Notts will need Jodi Jones to provide a spark in their play-off clash.

Notts County will need their star man, Jodi Jones, to be at his best for their play-off semi-final against AFC Wimbledon if they are to overcome their recent issues and book a place at Wembley.

After missing out on automatic promotion in the last few weeks of the season, Stuart Maynard’s men must now pick themselves up and be ready for a tricky test, against a Wimbledon side who dominated them in their last meeting.

The Magpies have struggled to create clear-cut chances of late, and that will have to change if they are to progress through to the final.

Jones has had his season heavily disrupted by injuries and hasn’t been back in the side for long, but he could hold the key to Notts turning their fortunes around and keeping their hopes of promotion alive.

Notts have struggled to create recently

Despite stringing together a positive run at the end of March, which revitalised their hopes of automatic promotion, Notts have endured a disappointing end to the league season, and it has resulted in them falling short of their aspirations, for now at least.

The Magpies won just one of their final six in the league and are heading into the post-season campaign in particularly disjointed form.

A big feature of their recent struggles has been a lack of creativity, especially at home. That issue was exacerbated even more on Saturday when David McGoldrick (who has shouldered the creative burden almost on his own at times) wasn’t fit enough to feature.

Notts created just one big chance, compared to Doncaster’s five, in what was a relatively toothless display. That was the latest in a recent run of disappointing home performances, with Maynard’s side now having lost three consecutive games at Meadow Lane.

The creative problems have been prevalent across all three of those defeats. Having created more big chances than anyone else in the division, with 111, we have become accustomed to seeing the Magpies carve out chances with relative ease.

However, that just hasn’t been the case lately. In the last three home games, they have fashioned a combined total of just four big chances, and that will likely have to change if they are to find a way past a Wimbledon outfit that boasts League Two’s best defensive record.

Johnnie Jackson’s side have conceded just 35 times all season and have 21 clean sheets to their name, the league’s joint-highest tally.

With that in mind, the Magpies are surely going to have to find a way of generating more opportunities for themselves, because they will surely need more than just the occasional sight of goal if they are to progress.

Notts will need Jones to be at his best

However, Notts can take solace from the fact that they have a man who possesses the ability to create moments of magic out of nothing within their ranks.

Jones has spent much of the season sidelined through injury – a fractured shin ruled him out for the majority of the first half of the campaign, before he also missed a brief spell a few months ago.

The wideman has come back into the fold in recent weeks and is still working his way back towards full match sharpness. That level of sharpness can be particularly crucial to players like Jones, who rely on a turn of pace or a piece of trickery to work space for themselves.

However, he carries such a threat that he will still be crucial to Notts’ hopes. The winger still has the fourth-highest number of goal contributions at the club this season, despite having started just 13 games.

The Malta international showcased just how dangerous he can be last term, when he notched a remarkable 24 assists on his way to winning League Two’s Player of the Year award.

On his day, he is virtually unplayable at this level of football, and, while expectations must be kept fairly low given how much football he has played this term, the Magpies will be quietly hopeful that he could make the difference.

The 27-year-old came off the bench to fire Notts to Wembley in their last play-off appearance back in the National League, they will be hopeful he can have a similar impact this time around.