Notts County took another stride towards clinching a National League play-off place as fears were allayed over Kyle Wootton's late substitution.
The Magpies secured a 3-1 win at Meadow Lane over Weymouth as Wootton opened the scoring with his 21st of the campaign when he flicked in Matt Palmer's corner.
Notts then doubled their lead in the 16th minute when Aaron Nemane finished off a brilliant move having been picked out by Jayden Richardson. Head coach Ian Burchnall's side had threatened to run riot, but the visitors had their best spell of the game before the break as Brad Ash and Tom Bearwish hit the woodwork.
Read more: Defender channels inner van Dijk in Notts player ratings
Read more: Burchnall issues update on top scorer after back issue
But Notts made it 3-0 after half-time when Ruben Rodrigues scored a glorious free-kick from 25 yards after the visitors had been penalised for handball. To their credit, Weymouth kept plugging away and pulled a goal back when Bearwish swept past Viteslav Jaros. But there was a concern for Notts as top scorer Wootton had to be replaced with 10 minutes remaining, but Burchnall said afterwards that his centre forward was fine.
Relief for Wootton
It was not just the fans who were holding their breath when Kyle Wootton sat down on the turf with 10 minutes remaining of their 3-1 win over Weymouth.
Ruben Rodrigues immediately signalled for a substitution and everybody's natural response was that he had picked up a serious injury. When players go down without being challenged it's always a major concern particularly as Kyle Cameron did the same when he ended up injuring his hamstring against Yeovil.
But thankfully the initial diagnosis is that Wootton will not be on the sidelines for long which is a huge relief given his importance to Notts' promotion hopes. Wootton felt a slight twinge in his back at half-time, but felt okay to continue and he would have been replaced far earlier if Weymouth had not scored.
Either way, it's a relief that the injury is not serious given his form as he bagged his 21st goal of the season in all competitions here. It was his fourth goal in five games and he seems to have hit form at exactly the right time of the season.
Burchnall conceded, however, that after playing so many minutes of late that he was due a break. Nobody can say he does not deserve it.
A warning
The first 25 to 30 minutes of this game were as good as Notts have played at home all season as they threatened to run riot.
But then 10 minutes before half-time, it was as if somebody had flicked a switch as Weymouth enjoyed their best period of the entire game. They hit the post and the crossbar and it did not take long before you sensed the anxiety rising in the stands.
It was a warning that as good as Notts have been this season, there cannot be room for any complacency even against teams bang in trouble at the bottom. A repeat against a better team in the play-offs could spell disaster to their promotion hopes. To his credit, Burchnall acknowledged his side had shifted down a gear and led to some choice words at half-time.
If Notts are serious about returning to the Football League at the third time of asking, they have to be relentless as well as ruthless. This league has a nasty habit of kicking you in the backside when you think you have cracked it. Let it be an important lesson.
Burchnall's quality post-match interview
Win, lose or draw, post-match manager quotes these days are full of cliches, but Burchnall's interview after this win was certainly refreshing. After a 3-1 win, you would have thought he would have been bouncing after his side secured another victory that took them closer to the play-offs.
But there would be no verbal confetti other than a nod to the brilliant 30 minutes of the first half in which Notts played their best football at home this season. Instead, he confessed he didn't enjoy the 3-1 win because of some of the complacency that crept in before half-time and how his team could have controlled the game better in the second half.
It demonstrated how he won't accept a slip in standards particularly with Notts closing in on a third consecutive play-off finish. Burchnall's honesty was to be admired because it would have been easy to hand out the high fives and ignore parts of the games that concerned the supporters.
It all ended with a cracking analogy as he likened his team's performance to a trip to McDonalds.
"Do you know what I would describe it as in a strange way? Like a trip to McDonalds when you're hungry," he said. "You're hungry so you need some food so you go to McDonalds and, at the time you are quite enjoying it, but the end of it is quite unsatisfying. Then after eating it I am still a bit hungry. That's how I felt. I've eaten but it wasn't enough."
Let's be fair
While Saturday's performance wasn't vintage Notts by any stretch of the imagination, they have now lost just once in their last seven games. Despite some of the misgivings about some elements of this performance, it showed that Notts are in good health at a key time of the season.
Wins build confidence but also momentum which will be vital should Notts, as expected, reach the play-offs. There will be games when Notts will not be at their free-flowing swaggering best, but it's all about managing minutes and making sure you come through them unscathed.
