Division Two: Burnley v Notts County - match preview

NOTTS County boss Gary Brazil insists that his side can still make the play-offs.

And he is looking to keep the dream alive by completing a double over Burnley at Turf Moor tomorrow.

The Magpies, who beat Burnley 2-0 in January thanks to two goals from on-loan striker Brett Angell, are four points adrift of the top six and six points behind the Clarets, having played a game more.

But thanks to a run of just three defeats in 12 games, which included a win over Preston and a draw with Millwall last Saturday, they still have an outside chance of making it.

And rookie boss Brazil is certainly optimistic that he can mark his managerial debut, having stepped up to replace Sam Allardyce in October, with a play-off berth. "We won't be chucking the towel in," he vowed.

"There's still 18 points to play for, so how can we possibly be out of it yet? The race is far from over and I genuinely believe we've still got a great chance.

"I won't stand for any negative thoughts and you certainly won't see them from myself or the players.

"We're still very hopeful of finishing in the top-six and will keep going right until the end.

"This situation means everything to the boys and they won't go down without a fight."

Former Preston and Newcastle United striker Brazil has done a decent job to keep County's season alive after their early momentum -- they topped the table in November -- had started to ebb away. He has had little opportunity to delve into the transfer market and even though County have played more matches than the majority of their rivals, the 37-year-old former youth team boss insists that games in hand don't count for everything.

"The other teams are bound to drop points between now and the end of the season, and our job is simply to hang in there," he said.

"We're not underestimating the size of the challenge ahead but we must stay optimistic.

"Some of our football against Millwall was magnificent and can only give us confidence going into our last six games.

"As long as we keep believing, anything's possible."

And Brazil, who is being assisted by former Rochdale and Wigan boss Graham Barrow, is looking to round off a daunting run of games against Preston, Wigan, Millwall and now Burnley with a positive result at Turf Moor.

"We will go there in good spirits and, at this stage of the season, have got to be looking to win every game," he said.

"One or two people may already have written us off, but we really have nothing to lose. We've just got to try to maintain our standards and keep working hard," he said.

As promotion outsiders, County may have nothing to throw away.

But they have plenty to lose and will see their top-six hopes diminish rapidly if they become the 14th victims at Turf Moor this season to a Burnley side equally desperate for the points to cement their play-off place and keep their automatic promotion hopes alive.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.