Match Preview: Notts County (H)
EFL League Two
The Hive London
Saturday, November 26, 2016 – KO 3pm
Team News: Alie Sesay serves the last game of his three-match ban while Bondz N’Gala joined Eastleigh prior to Tuesday’s 2-0 win at Plymouth Argyle.
Michael Gash (knee), James Pearson (knee) and Shaun Batt (hamstring) are long-term absentees while Gavin Hoyte (hamstring) remains sidelined.
Last Time We Met: The Bees picked up a convincing 3-1 win against the Magpies at The Hive in April, that despite falling behind early on when Jon Stead stroked home a sixth-minute penalty.
John Akinde levelled from the spot two minutes after the restart following Mike Edwards’ foul on Michael Gash.
Mark Randall then put the Bees in front for the first time, playing an incisive one-two with Andy Yiadom before tucking into the top corner on the run.
And it was Yiadom who completed the win, shooting from the outside of the box and over Scott Loach with the aid of a hefty deflection.
Manager: Experienced boss John Sheridan is currently in his third job of 2016 after starting the year at Newport County.
The 52-year-old replaced the sacked Terry Butcher at Rodney Parade and dragged the Exiles of the bottom of League Two towards eventual safety.
However, in January he quit South Wales for Oldham Athletic, returning to the club he served between 2006 and 2009 – as well as in two spells at caretaker boss.
Just four months later Sheridan was on the move once more, leaving his post at Oldham to become Notts County manager following Mark Cooper’s short-lived reign.
Sheridan won League Two with Chesterfield in 2011 and clinched the Football League Trophy the following year before leaving the Proact Stadium to become Plymouth Argyle boss in January 2013.
But he exited Home Park in May 2015 after missing out on a place in the Play-Off Final by losing to eventual winners AFC Wimbledon over two legs.
Dangerman: Experienced striker Jon Stead, 33, has nine goals in 13 appearances this season. The Huddersfield-born hitman has scored 20 in just 53 starts for Notts since joining last summer.
Stead began his professional career with hometown club Huddersfield Town and a return of 22 goals in 54 league starts earnt him a £1.25m switch to Blackburn Rovers where he made an encouraging start.
Spells with Sunderland, Derby County and Sheffield United in the top flight were not so profitable, though he found a return to form at Ipswich scoring 19 times in 40 starts across two stints.
A return of 20 goals in 61 league starts at Bristol City followed and in June 2013 he clinched a return to Huddersfield Town but managed just eight league starts and two goals for the Terriers.
Loans moves to Oldham Athletic and Bradford City (twice) were underwhelming but Stead has rediscovered his scoring touch at Meadow Lane and leads the line for the Pies.Â
Connections:Â Current Bees head coach Martin Allen was Notts County boss between April 2011 and February 2012.
He took eight points from his first seven games at the helm to help the Magpies avoid relegation to League Two and was Manager of the Month in September of the new season.Â
However, he was relieved of his duties six months later before returning to Barnet.
Striker Izale McLeod – currently out of contract – scored against Barnet for the Magpies last season and finished the campaign with nine goals from 37 outings.
McLeod, who left Yeovil Town earlier this season, bagged an impressive 32 strikes in just 68 league starts as a Bee between 2010 and 2012 before turning down the offer of a new contract at Underhill.
The 32-year-old has scored 142 goals in 335 league starts in a nomadic career which has seen him play for 13 different clubs.Â
Bees winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce has enjoyed two spells at Meadow Lane, the most recent of which was a four-game loan spell last year. Prior to that he notched 11 times in 70 league starts to earn a move to Sheffield United.
Kyle De Silva (pictured), Jude Stirling and Krystian Pearce have all had spells with both clubs, while Neil Bishop was a favourite at Underhill before a successful four year spell at County.Â
Last Time Out: Notts County extended their winless run in EFL League Two to four games with a 1-0 loss at home to Cambridge United on Tuesday evening.
The defeat was their third in a row against former boss Shaun Derry who was sacked by the Pies in March 2015.
Conor Newton got the decisive goal for the U’s after 26 minutes, capitalising on some generous marking before clipping beyond the advancing Adam Collin.
Notts County (3-5-2): Collin; Laing, Edwards, Duff; Hewitt, Milsom, Smith, O’Connor, Dickinson; Snijders, Forte.
Ticket info: This match is part of our fantastic Christmas Cracker promotion and anyone purchasing a ticket for tomorrow’ game will receive a free ticket to our December 17 showdown with local rivals Stevenage.
You can purchase online by clicking here or by arriving early on Saturday and visiting The Hive Ticket Office.
Keep up with the game: Full match commentary from every game is available on Bees Player HD. You can also get live match updates on Twitter and Facebook throughout the afternoon. We are also on Snapchat (‘Barnetofficial’) and Instagram.