Town fought back from a goal behind to draw 1-1 in their pre-season friendly at Notts County. The hosts took the lead shortly before half-time through Nathan Tyson, then Kayden Jackson hit back midway through the second half to ensure it ended honours even at Meadow Lane but the game was marred for the Blues by the loss of Tristan Nydam to what looked a serious injury.
As announced prior to the trip to the East Midlands, Paul Lambert named a much-changed line-up from that which started last week’s 5-0 victory over Colchester United.
Only Nydam, Idris El Mizouni and Luke Garbutt were retained from the start, with former Notts County keeper Bartosz Bialkowski replacing Tomas Holy in goal.
Josh Emmanuel, Luke Woolfenden, Armando Dobra, Cole Skuse, Kayden Jackson and Emyr Huws were also brought into the line-up alongside trialist Jon Guthrie.
Friday’s hat-trick hero James Norwood, who was initially named in the starting lineup due to an error on the teamsheet, dropped to the bench.
Kicking off in hazy evening sunshine on what was one of the hottest days of the year so far, it was the hosts who had the first shot of the match, trialist Dion Kelly-Evans finding space on the right of the Ipswich box before hitting a low shot which was comfortably saved by Bialkowski.
Town immediately replied at the other end with El Mizouni jinking into the box before finding Garbutt, who had time to bring the ball down and shoot, but unfortunately his effort was blocked by Jackson ahead of him and bounced harmlessly wide.
On 15 minutes Garbutt nearly found himself one-on-one with keeper Ross Fitzsimons after a mistake by the Notts backline but was denied by a last gasp sliding tackle by Damien McCrory.
With the hosts immediately giving the ball away, Dobra managed to find Garbutt again deeper inside the box, but he could not get a shot in and the danger was cleared.
Having begun the match in temperatures of 30°C in Nottingham, both sides paused for a drinks break midway through the half.
Five minutes later Town did have the ball in the Notts net through Jackson, but only after the striker had already fouled McCrory on the way into the box.
Five minutes before half-time, Nydam collected the ball on the left and sent in a cross which Jackson tried to turn towards goal, but he was unable to make a firm connection under pressure and the ball bounced into Fitzsimons’ arms.
One minute later, Town found themselves a goal down. From a long ball forward, Emmanuel lost the ball under pressure from Andy Kellett who set up Nathan Tyson. The trialist, who had netted a hat-trick for Notts a week earlier at Ilkeston Town, drilled the ball firmly past Bialkowski into the bottom left corner to give the hosts the lead.
With no further chances materialising for either side before the break, Town made three changes at half-time, Corrie Ndaba and trialist James Wilson replacing Woolfenden and Emmanuel with Andre Dozzell coming in to replace Guthrie.
Jackson had the first shot of the second half two minutes after the restart, collecting the ball on the edge of the Notts box before firing a shot which was saved comfortably by Fitzsimons.
Town then nearly found themselves further behind at the other end with Ndaba and Bialkowski getting into a mix-up, but fortunately the hosts were unable to strike on goal before Huws could clear the danger.
Play was stopped on 52 minutes after Nydam and Kelly-Evans collided heavily, with Nydam immediately going down with what appeared to be an ankle injury.
Following a lengthy stoppage, the Town youngster was stretchered off to respectful applause from both the home and away supporters at Meadow Lane, with Lambert bringing on Bailey Clements to replace him.
With an hour gone, Kellett got the better of Ndaba cutting in from the right wing before hitting a shot which Bialkowski punched away for a corner that Kellett then wasted.
Town quickly found themselves under pressure again though, Kelly-Evans wriggling into the Town box before firing a shot which was deflected over, but the hosts again could not make anything of the set piece.
And having sustained that pressure, Town pulled themselves level on 66 minutes. The ball was played up to Jackson on the right who ran into the Notts box before striking across Fitzsimons into the far corner for his fourth goal of the pre-season campaign.
Notts immediately made three changes with Alex Howes, Declan Dunn and Chris Camwell coming on for Kyel Reid, Pierce Bird and McCrory. Three minutes later Town made another change, Danny Rowe coming on for Garbutt.
Fitzsimons was soon forced into another save before Dobra won Town a freekick, twisting and turning on the edge of the box before being brought down by Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain, but El Mizouni could only strike the ball straight out of play.
With 12 minutes to go, the hosts made a raft of changes, Kane Hemmings, Tom Crawford, Jim O’Brien, Remaye Campbell, Will Patching, Owen Betts, Samuel Osborne and Max Culverwell coming on for Tyson, Michael Doyle, Mitch Rose, Enzio Boldewijn, Kellett, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kelly-Evans and Fitzsimons. Town responded by taking off El Mizouni to be replaced by Norwood.
The former Tranmere striker was quickly in the thick of the action, getting onto a knockdown from a Dozzell freekick before touching the ball past Culverwell into the net from the centre of the six-yard area, but the offside flag denied him his fifth goal in three games.
He was soon threatening again though, controlling a cross from Huws before turning and firing, but his shot was blocked by Dunn.
Town were now looking to be getting on top with five minutes remaining, Clements playing the ball in to Dobra who fended off several Notts defenders before his shot was saved by Culverwell.
At the other end, Patching beat Clements before his cross was headed away for a corner from which the hosts could not make anything.
With seven minutes of stoppage time announced, both sides were now battling hard to find a winner. Trialist Camwell had a shot blocked for the hosts before Skuse failed to clear a ball into the area by Patching, only for Howes to fire wide.
At the other end, Norwood almost found Jackson but played the ball slightly too far ahead of him in the Notts box, then Rowe tried his luck from the corner of the area but was unable to beat Culverwell.
The last chance of the game fell to Huws, but he was unable to turn Skuse’s cross on target. The final whistle blew a minute later with the crowd of 1,673 fans — including 354 Town supporters — applauding the players off the field.
Although the final result was by no means as pleasing for the travelling fans as the trip to Colchester last week, the main concern for all parties connected with Town will clearly be for Nydam, with the full extent of his injury yet to be revealed.
Notts County: Fitzsimons, Rose, Bird, Reid, Doyle, Tyson, Boldewijn, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kellett, Evans, McCrory. Subs: O'Brien, Culverwell, Tootle, Camwell, O'Brien, Campbell, Hemmings, Crawford, Dunn, Patching, Howes, Kennedy-Williams, Betts, Osborne.
Town: Bialkowski; Emmanuel (Dozzell, 46), Woolfenden (Wilson, 46), Guthrie (Ndaba, 46), Nydam (Clements, 59); Skuse, Huws; Dobra, El Mizouni (Norwood, 79), Garbutt (Rowe 71); Jackson. Subs not used: Holy, Downes. Att: 1,673.