County midfielder Jeff Hughes, who opened the scoring for the Magpies in their 3-0 opening day victory over Carlisle at Brunton Park spoke to the Nottingham Post and his club's official website after the game, Hughes lethal from a yard out :
"It was pleasing to score on my debut, but to be honest I couldn't miss! I made a run into the box and Hughesy put a great ball over for me. All I had to do was get my foot on the end of it and keep the ball low, and thankfully I did. I'm lethal from a yard out!
"It was good to get off the mark because I didn't score in pre-season. In fact, I missed some sitters, which were playing on my mind. If I'm playing midfield, I always aim for ten goals a season. That's come back for me from Keith Alexander at Lincoln, he always said five for defenders, ten for midfielders and twenty for the forwards, and I'm still living off that.
"Winning 3-0 is a good start for us. I can't remember the last time I won on the opening day of the season, and I've been told it's the first time since 2000 that we've won away on the opening day. A good start is very important. We all hope this win sets the tone for our season and the rest of it goes well for us. We have the same aspirations as every team in the division.
"It was quite tight in the opening stages, so it was nice to get the first goal. It gave us a lot of confidence and obviously the next two goals we scored set us up perfectly for the win. The timing of the third goal could not have been better, coming just before half-time. It was a great finish from Hughesy (Lee Hughes). He's a legend at this club and he showed he's still got it. He is always in the right place at the right time. He's brilliant.
"It was good to be leading 3-0 at half-time, but we knew we had to be professional and see the game out. The gaffer (Martin Allen) would never let us believe the game was over. We played well, kept a clean-sheet and scored three goals, and you can't ask for much more than that."