Short admits bad County start

Manager Craig Short conceded it was a poor day at the office as Notts County went down 3-0 at home to Huddersfield.

Anthony Pilkington struck either side of a goal from Jordan Rhodes in Saturday's League One clash at Meadow Lane as the Terriers, who were knocked out at the semi-final stage of last season's play-offs, proved they are likely to once again be among the sides gunning for promotion this term. Short said: "It was bad and we started very badly. I know they are one of the teams favourite for promotion and they've got a lot of good players but with the way our pre-seasons gone and the way we ended last year, I anticipated we'd give a much better account of ourselves." Short is in no doubt about the tough task that lies ahead this season, adding: "I told the players before we played not to fear this division, they have to respect it. I still don't want them to fear it because if doubt creeps in it saps away at your confidence, but I'm sure that won't happen. "Now we know the standard of this division, we know teams like Huddersfield, we'll have to be at our maximum to compete with those sorts of teams."