Notts County boss believes home advantage gives them 'best opportunity' to beat Chesterfield

The Magpies host the Spireites at Meadow Lane on Saturday (4pm KO) with the winner advancing to the semi-final stage.

Notts finished fifth in the National League, one place and one point above the Blues.

“They (Chesterfield) will obviously come in feeling good and they are a strong team so we have to match that,” Burchnall said.

“But we are at Meadow Lane which we are happy with and with the fans behind us we will give it our best go.

“It gives us the best opportunity, we have a great fan base that are going to make a lot of noise and we know that is going to be an extra push for us when we need it.”

County go into this weekend’s game on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Bromley on the final day of the season.

“We wanted to be at home because we wanted to play in front of the fans again but we wanted to earn it ourselves, we have kind of relied on others doing a job for us so we are not really satisfied with that,” Burchnall added.

“It is what it is, we have got a home tie, it is a little blip for us in current form, I think we will take some lessons forward to the next game.

“Maybe we lose a little bit of momentum (after the defeat to Bromley) but, in the same moment, I think we gain some important lessons.”

Both Notts and Town have accumulated 13 points from their last six fixtures so there is very little to choose between the sides.

Burchnall, who took over from Ardley in March, has called on his team to remain calm.

“We are going to be tense and (have) stressful moments through the next few games and we have got to be able to manage them a bit,” he said.

“The opposition could score but we can’t get flustered by that, we have to maintain our composure and keep playing our way because that is what has brought us success now.”