Final thought - Notts weaker when a goal up?

Of course the answer is that they would never be better off going behind - no matter what the circumstances. Taking the lead is always the best way of getting three points out of the game.

McParland... Powerless to stop individual errors

However, it has certainly had a negative effect on Notts this season, where they have taken the lead only to go on to either draw or lose.

For the majority of the season it has been because of a lack of ability in the final third, with Ian McParland's men consistently unable to add a second goal to their opener.

On Saturday it was because the defence messed up with three bad errors that meant Notts' lead didn't stand a chance of being built on.

It took Peter Thorne just five minutes to level things up at Meadow Lane after Ryan Jarvis' 58th minute opener for the Magpies, as the Bradford man easily turned Adam Tann who had got far too tight, to leave Notts needing to score a second goal for the first time in 13 games. That stat alone suggests that would be highly unlikely.

But it is the next stat that should worry McParland, and more so perhaps, the fans who are turning in every week to see a side who are now a very real relegation candidates.

The lead... Butcher, Weston and MacKenzie celebrate opener v MK Dons

Because over the course of the season Notts have scored the first goal in a league game fifteen times - but have only ended the game ahead six times.

That might not read as too bad a statistic, but when you consider that four of those wins came in the first four games Notts held the lead, then you realise that the problem is one that is very current in the battle against relegation.

Since going behind to beat Shrewsbury Town on December 8, Notts have opened the scoring six times, and won just twice - both against a faltering Chester City side.

That Notts' wins this season have been in games when they have taken the lead shows that they can hold onto advantages - or more to the point, illustrates the inability to score more than once in a game.

But after leading recently at Dagenham, Morecambe and Stockport, and

Defeat... However, Butcher's goal was in vain as the Dons snatched a 90th minute winner

taking the lead against Bradford, Notts should have ended that sequence with more than just the three points they got.

Against the first three mentioned it was Notts' inability to press, to create further chances. Indeed, the Magpies have scored more than once in only five league games this term - one of which they lost, and another they drew. And never in a league game have three been scored.

Against Bradford, it mas defensive mistakes.

The next thing McParland has to do his get working on a mental toughness that will prevent this happening, otherwise Notts will continue to freeze when they take the lead.

And in the current precarious position, that could be catastrophic.