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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Oliver King

Luke Williams keen to strike right balance in Wrexham preparations as Notts County prediction made

Tied on 100 points and 106 goals while boasting just five league defeats between them, the race for the National League title potentially all comes down to tomorrow.

All eyes will be on Notts County's trip to Wrexham on Monday afternoon, with the winner at the Racecourse Ground putting themselves firmly in the driving seat to obtain that coveted one automatic promotion spot.

The Magpies were able to take advantage of Phil Parkinson's side's shock defeat to Halifax on Good Friday with a comfortable victory over Wealdstone at Meadow Lane, retaining top spot in the process.

READ MORE: Adam Chicksen approaching Wrexham clash 'like any other' as defining Notts County moment explained

Many believe this is the biggest game the fifth division has and will ever witness, with Notts head coach Luke Williams in agreeance when assessing his side's trip to north Wales.

"It seems like it - two teams are on 100 points with games to spare, two teams with the most goals scored in a National League season, it most certainly has an argument that this is the biggest game the division has ever seen."

This game between the two National League juggernauts has been a date circled in the calendar for months, with many predicting the title would be decided at the Racecourse Ground.

Many anticipated it to be close, but not as tense as this. Wrexham's defeat to Halifax sees both sides go into the game tied on 100 points, something not even Hollywood could have scripted.

Both of these incredible sides are on course to smash several records in the division. Having already scored the most goals in a league season, Phil Parkinson's side has equalled the most wins in a league campaign (31), with both needing just six more points from their remaining fixtures to accumulate the most points ever seen at this level, last achieved by Crawley Town 12 years ago.

However, Williams insists the focus remains on the task at hand against a side that has dropped just two points at home all season - explaining that first-team assistant George Lawtey predicted that the fixture at the Racecourse Ground was identified as the game where the title would be won, or lost.

"I remember George Lawtey told me very early on when he looked at the fixtures and he said we are going to have to go to Wrexham and we are going to have to compete for league, but I thought he was winding me up and it turns out he was telling the truth."

With just a three-day rest between their win over Wealdstone and their trip to Wrexham, the Notts head coach needed to find the right balance between rest and recovery, ensuring all of his available players are fit, and getting back out onto the training pitch to correct the tiniest of details from their win over the Stones.

Both Ruben Rodrigues and Geraldo Bajrami were left out of the win at Meadow Lane on Good Friday as precautions with the game against The Red Dragons, with Sam Slocombe and Junior Morias also missing.

And the Magpies head coach admitted trying to strike that perfect balance ahead of kick-off would be difficult, going on to say: "It's a good question because it is tough and we need to analyse the Wealdstone game and what we need to show players the key information from this game and how we transition that into our game against Wrexham.

"We need to ensure we make the correct training because some players need certain things while others may need something else.

"But, hopefully, we will all streamline together for Sunday to prepare for the opposition and train and recover correctly with everybody all together and then travel for the game."

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