Ian Burchnall believes Notts County's "clinical" display at Southend should stand them in good stead for their next away day against Torquay United.
Burchnall recently challenged his players to improve their "inconsistent" form away from home this season - and the team responded with an impressive 3-0 victory over the Shrimpers at Roots Hall on Saturday. Ruben Rodrigues scored all three goals as he notched up a first career hat-trick and the result made it three wins and a draw from the past four fixtures.
That run started with a 2-1 success on the road at Dagenham & Redbridge - and Notts are now preparing for another trip to the south coast to take on Torquay at Plainmoor this weekend. The Gulls are 11th in the National League table, and the highest-placed side the sixth-placed Magpies have left to face in the regular campaign as they target a play-off spot.
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Reflecting on his side's performance at Southend, head coach Burchnall said: "We were more clinical. We didn't create as many chances as we have done - but we took the chances that we had. I think that's important, especially in an away game like this.
"We didn't concede too many big, big chances, apart from the penalty. With the keeper (Vitezslav Jaros) coming in and saving the penalty made it a more complete performance. It was an important save because if they get that, it's 2-1 and they can then get the crowd behind them, but I think that killed them a little bit."
Burchnall feels his team can learn from and adapt to the way sides set up against them when the Magpies are on the road. "Teams know how we set up and how we play," he added.
"They try to combat that. A lot of teams step really high and aggressive. (Southend) did that well early in the game, but at the same time, that means they have to give up a lot of space behind the defence and we talked about how we had to capitalise on that, especially on a dry pitch. I think when teams want to stand so high on us, we have to be able to offer that threat in behind, and at times, we did that well."
Looking ahead to Torquay, Burchnall said: "The last four games, we've won three and drawn one, against tough opposition. It's not easy to come (to Southend) and win. And after Dagenham away, Boreham Wood at home and Chesterfield at home, a return of 10 points out of 12, we can be happy with that and start to build some momentum now.
"It's going to be a tough game at Torquay - they are exactly like (Southend) - they're certainly not going to lie down and just let us do what we want to do. I think it's great to get that momentum, a clean sheet, three goals away from home. We talked about our away form and needing to improve that. I think that was a good step in the right direction."
