KEITH Curle believes he is better prepared to be successful on his return to management at Notts County because he has learned from the master Neil Warnock, who famously led the Magpies into the top-flight in the nineties.

Curle, 48, has not managed a club since 2007, having been in charge of Mansfield Town, Chester City and Torquay United.

But he has coached at Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers under Warnock in the past few seasons, helping him lead Rangers into the Premier League.

Curle's only success in his first spell as a manager was at Mansfield as he led the Stags to a play-off final in 2004, but he now believes he can lead Notts into the Championship.

After signing a two-and-a-half-year deal at Meadow Lane, Curle said: "I've always wanted to be a manager, but on reflection I went into it too soon after retiring as a player.

"I still had a player's mentality. When I was a player I thought I was invincible, that nobody was going to get the better of me and everything I did was going to be right.

"Foolishly, I took that approach into my managerial career. It was my way or the highway, which I know is wrong.

"I didn't arm myself with enough information on how to be a success and I've been lucky since then to work with Neil, who is a very successful manager and knows every trick in the book to get the best out of players.

"He gets the best out of individuals. They might not be the most talented people, but he gets the best out of them. He gets players performing."

Warnock guided Notts to successive play-off final victories at Wembley in 1990 and 1991 and now, 21 years later, Curle believes he can inspire the Magpies into the play-offs in League One in the last 16 games of this season.

Curle's first game in charge is against Stevenage at Meadow Lane tonight.

He added: "We're only eight points off it. If we go on a run now, anything can happen. It's important we try to hit the ground running.

"I think I can take this club to where I think it should be. In the short term, that is the Championship."