​Magpies have picked up more points already than they did for the entirety of last season

The Magpies just missed out on securing a play-off spot last year on the final day of the campaign.

However, it appears – barring an almighty collapse in the next couple of months – that a top seven spot is already assured this season.

Their victory at Hereford on Saturday saw them move on to 68 points – they accumulated 66 last season – to go one point behind second-placed Scunthorpe United with a game in hand.

More importantly, they have opened up a 10-point gap between themselves and eighth-placed Curzon Ashton.

"I’m delighted to get the three points,” said Preece. “I think we really deserved it because we had a few chances ourselves on the counter and worked their keeper a couple of times.

"We’ve got more points than we did last year, so that’s a fantastic feeling with nine games to go.”

Preece requires another big effort from his men as they face another game tonight – and another long trip – this time to South Shields.

It’s their third away match on the spin – they defeated Bishop’s Stortford 4-1 last Tuesday night. Happily, it’s their final midweek game of the month – a welcome relief after a hectic schedule of fixtures since the turn of the year.

"We’ve found a way to get six points out of two games and we’ve got one more to go,” said Preece.

"We would have taken six points for these three games all day long and now we go to South Shields with six games under our belts already.

“We know how good South Shields are. They tore us apart at our place but somehow we managed to win the game so it’s going to be tough.

"We’re going to be tested and it’s going to be physically demanding on the players.”

At the weekend, Chorley entertain Scarborough Athletic at Victory Park.

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