Notts County transfer shortcoming evident v Port Vale and Chesterfield: View | OneFootball

Notts' recent showings have outlined an area where they lack depth in the squad.

Notts County’s performances against Port Vale and Chesterfield in recent weeks have highlighted a potential shortcoming of their squad building over the summer.

The Magpies fell to just their second defeat of their season against Port Vale, before a last-gasp David McGoldrick goal rescued a point away at Chesterfield last Saturday.

Stuart Maynard’s side were good value for more than the one point they picked up across the two outings. However, the two performances did outline a part of the squad where they are still short of depth.

Notts had a generally positive window, with several areas of the squad receiving significant upgrades and with little financial outlay.

Despite this, recent games have shown they are still short of a striker to provide another option to vary their play and provide cover for the duo of McGoldrick and Alassana Jatta.

Jatta and McGoldrick have started well but need support

Notts’ striker duo have both started the season in impressive form. Both Jatta and McGoldrick have five goals already in League Two and are both key to Maynard’s plans. However, another option is essential if they are to mount a serious push for promotion to League One.

Jatta has already missed four of Notts’ eleven League Two games, with two separate absences in accordance with the concussion protocols. It’s testament to how well the Gambian has adapted to English football that the Magpies look a totally different side when they’re without him.

His presence has been sorely missed on the occasions when he’s been unavailable. With the ball unable to stick up front, Notts have lacked the ability to go longer in order to stop opponents pressing them as strongly.

Without his runs in behind defences, Notts became too one-dimensional, resulting in them playing in front of their opponents a little too often.

Similarly, it’s imperative McGoldrick’s minutes are managed carefully to ensure he doesn’t get burned out after Christmas as he did last season.

This careful management was shown in Notts’ 2-0 away win at Carlisle United on 1st October. With Jatta returning to the side, Maynard opted to allow McGoldrick to stay at home to rest, instead of travelling up to Carlisle on a Tuesday night just to sit on the bench.

The former Derby and Sheffield United man has shone at times for Notts this season and the quality he brings cannot be disputed, even at his age, but he simply cannot play every week if the Magpies want to keep him fresh.

Notts must target another recognised striker in January

Although Notts have reasonable depth in the majority of areas, they are seriously lacking a third recognised striker to split the load with Jatta and McGoldrick.

Cedwyn Scott has only recently returned from an injury which kept him out for almost the entirety of the 2023/24 season and has never had a consistent run of games at League Two level.

His role has changed drastically over the course of his time at Notts, with the former Gateshead man now tending to occupy a more withdrawn role.

Meanwhile, Jevani Brown has had a disappointing start to his season-long loan spell at Meadow Lane. The Bristol Rovers loanee hasn’t looked like replicating the form that saw him impress in League One with 12 goals for Exeter in 2022/23 and also isn't the type of profile who would benefit Notts playing down the middle.

With that in mind, another out-and-out striker must surely be at the top of the Magpies’ shopping list for the January window.

With Notts using a one striker formation for the vast majority of their league games, it will likely be difficult for them to attract a genuine top-quality frontman for League Two level, especially with any potential targets knowing they will have to fight with Jatta and McGoldrick for gametime.

Instead, Notts will likely have to dip into the loan market to find the missing piece to their puzzle and while that may not be the most exciting of avenues to explore, Notts don’t need somebody who will come in and be the main man necessarily. They just need somebody who is capable at this level of football, that can be relied upon to ease the workload on their current stars.

While this is obviously an issue that now can't be addressed properly until January, it's something that must be improved upon, or it could end up holding Notts back.