Notts County: 'Building blocks' in place for future success, says boss Ian Burchnall

Ian Burchnall was put in charge of Notts County in March 2021, following Neal Ardley's departure

Boss Ian Burchnall says the "building blocks" are in place to bring success to Notts County despite their National League play-off eliminator defeat.

Notts were beaten 2-1 in extra time by Grimsby Town after leading through Ruben Rodrigues' penalty.

The Mariners levelled in added time at the end of the 90 minutes and scored late again in the extra half-hour to go through to face Wrexham in the semis.

"It's a cruel way to lose a game," Burchnall told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"I actually thought we handled it well, we took momentum into extra time - it was going to be a fine margin that decided it, if not penalties, and it could have gone either way.

"I have seen [a video of] the last goal, it looks offside, which is frustrating, because it was so late in the game."

County finished fifth in the final National League table, one place and five points above Grimsby, but now face a third successive season outside the English Football League.

Several Notts players are out of contract and there has been speculation about Burchnall's future, although he downplayed reports linking him the vacant manager's role at League Two champions Forest Green Rovers.

"We just need to reflect and take stock. The building blocks are here, we've reduced the average age of the squad from 29 to 24, we've brought in some exciting young players who are developing in the right way," he said.

"We really wanted to get out of this league this season, it wasn't to be, so now we have to put the foundations in place for the future."

Burchnall said he did not know how the referee decided on six minutes of added time, which was sufficient to allow Gavin Holohan to level the quarter-final.

"We were seconds away. I was a bit unsure where he got six minutes from, but still we have to defend for the six minutes and we gave a needless free-kick away in a dangerous area and they put everybody forward, it was chaos, and we couldn't quite see it out," he added.