Notts County manager Luke Williams has identified Sam Austin as the player who can fill the gap left by the departure of Cal Roberts, following his impressive performance in their 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest.
The Magpies confirmed the departure of Roberts to Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen yesterday, with many Notts fans concerned on how they are going to replace one of their star players so close to the start of the National League season.
And the Notts boss could not hide his disappointment at losing the 25-year-old, explaining he was "gutted" about losing a player of his quality.
"It was hugely disappointing, but ultimately the club that pursued Callum (Roberts) were very competitive with their offer and met the valuation the club put on Callum," explained Williams.
"It was a fantastic opportunity for Cal to pursue, it is a good club at a good level and it can take him to different places. I am absolutely gutted to lose him, but all things considered it was the right thing to do."
But Williams was quick to insist that a player already within his ranks could have the potential to fill the gap left by Roberts, and that was in the form of Austin.
The 25-year-old was on target for the Magpies after capitalising on a mistake by Jordan Smith, smashing the ball beyond two Forest defenders in what was a composed piece of play.
Speaking on Austin's performance, Williams said: "I thought Sam's performance was really exciting, he made lots of box entries and was a live wire throughout the whole game.
"He looked like he wants to make himself the next guy to step into that position."
And whilst Williams was quick to heap praise onto Austin, he reiterated that Notts are still keeping busy within the transfer market to try and bolster their attacking options ahead of the start of the National League season.
"We are in the market, we are looking at good players to come in all the time, but the good players are difficult to get so you have to really chase them, have to persuade them.
"We have good players in that position, but we are still always looking."
