Lewis Macari injury adds fuel to Notts County F.c. promotion push

Lewis Macari’s serious leg injury at Colchester has left notts county f.c. heading into the final day with promotion to League One still on the line. The defender was hurt in the first half, then watched from the sideline as Notts County won 1-0 and kept their top-three push alive.

Macari's night in Colchester

Macari, 24, has undergone surgery and remains in hospital in Cambridge after the injury. He has made 40 appearances this season, and his absence now hangs over a side that still has a route to automatic promotion if it finishes the job on Saturday.

Martin Paterson said the club wants to turn the injury into something positive for both the player and the team. “We, as a football club, supported him through a tough time and he has paid us back no end with his endeavour and his quality at time, because he is underrated,” he said. “We now have a common goal, to do it for those ones that can't be out there to do it.”

Paterson's promotion push

Paterson was blunt about the mood around the injury. “it was tough,” he said of seeing Macari go down. He added: “We have to flip this really bad moment, this and negative moment of him hurting himself into a positive for the football club and for him - to give him a chance to maybe play at a higher level.”

That task now sits alongside a promotion race that has reached the final day. Saturday’s 1-0 win at Colchester guaranteed Notts County at least a play-off place, but the club can still finish in the top three and go up automatically if it beats Bristol Rovers at Meadow Lane and results elsewhere go its way.

Notts County and the final day

Paterson described Macari as someone who “embodies everything that this team is” and said: “He will bounce back. Don't worry about Lewis Macari, he is tougher than old leather,” He also said, “He works hard, and every single day he comes in and does his best. He never shirks a tackle and he's not given me one moment of a dip in terms of his attitude.”

Macari’s injury has become part of the club’s final push, not a separate subplot. Notts County are already into the play-offs, but the chance to reach League One directly still depends on what happens next on Saturday, with Macari recovering in hospital and the squad trying to carry his season into the last match.