Ruben Rodrigues has highlighted the importance of the half-time conversation had with his Notts County teammates in their 3-0 win over Aldershot at the EBB Stadium.
The Magpies went into the break a goal up thanks to Jim O'Brien on his return to the side, with Luke Williams' side reacting strongly following an unusually sloppy opening 15 minutes.
The Portuguese midfielder was influential once again when Notts broke forward, with his incisive passing and driving runs causing a number of problems for Ross McNeilly's side.
READ MORE: Luke Williams details Ruben Rodrigues tactics following Aldershot display
While not reaching the numbers of last season, Rodrigues' overall play has become the standout during another impressive campaign for the 26-year-old, continuing to showcase the abundance of talent he possesses at this level.
His creativeness and awareness in the final third have provided several assists for his side this year, and on some occasions in the first half, he was looking to create rather than test Shots 'keeper Luca Ashby-Hammond.
But it took Rodrigues just 11 minutes to fire his ninth league goal of the season with a curling effort from outside the area, and the midfielder revealed the influence his teammates had in his goal which stemmed from conversations held at the interval.
"There was not really a conversation with the manager, it was more the players," explained Rodrigues.
"They came to me in the dressing room, especially the players on the bench and they were telling me to take the shot.
"If you take a shot at first and then the next time they are going to try and close you down and then the space opens up for the pass which I thought was the better option.
"In the second half, there was no one in front of me to make the pass so I just thought let's have a shot, and thankfully it went it."
In what were testing conditions in Hampshire on Saturday afternoon, the heavy rain and swirling winds could have offered a potential banana skin for the Magpies as they searched for a 17th game unbeaten in the National League.
And while Rodrigues admitted the conditions played a part in his substitution, he insisted that the playing conditions at the EBB Stadium were fine despite the monsoon-like weather.
"The rain was fine, but it was just a heavy pitch which was to be expected.
"I felt a bit tired towards the end so I wasn't too worried about the substitution because we have another game coming up this Tuesday.
"The conditions were fine and the pitch was alright."
Their away triumph at Aldershot was their ninth of the campaign so far, taking more points on the road than at Meadow Lane having played two more games away from home.
Notts welcome Boreham Wood to Meadow Lane on Tuesday evening before entertaining Maidstone in the FA Trophy the following week.
The win saw Williams' side open up a five-point gap at the top of the table, and Rodrigues explained that having points on the board at this stage of the season is more of an advantage than having games in hand.
"It's always nice to get a win, Wrexham and Chesterfield did not play.
"I have been in the position where we have to play games in hand and that is never easy because you are already thinking, that is six points and we are top of the league.
"Then you have to play the games and you are already there, so it's great to get that win but we have to keep on going now."
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