NOTTS County players hope new boss Steve Cotterill can guide them into the top three in the final furlong of the promotion race in League Two, after he pulled a few strings to get them tickets for the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival next Tuesday.

The Magpies are coming up on the rails towards the top of the basement division under Cotterill, who is from Cheltenham and led his hometown club from non-league to Division Two with three promotions in five years early in his managerial career.

They have climbed two places from seventh to fifth with wins against Hereford United, Macclesfield Town and Accrington in his first three games.

Impressively, they have scored nine goals and conceded none.

They now hope to gallop into the top three with victories against two of their biggest rivals, third-placed Chesterfield tonight and second-placed Bournemouth next Monday, both at Meadow Lane.

They are just three points behind the Spireites, with three games in-hand on them. They have four games in-hand on the Cherries, and are only six points behind them.

Ben Davies believes a day at the races the day after the Bournemouth game would be great for team spirit, especially if the Magpies have claimed two priceless wins.

And he has joked the players could even help pay off some of the Magpies' huge debts if they get a big winner – or even be able to afford to bring former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson back to Meadow Lane as director of football.

He said: "It's nice now and then to forget football and the pressure of being in a promotion race.

"We're all so close. At times this season all we have had is the togetherness between the players and coaching staff, because of the club's problems.

"Days out together only enhance the spirit in the dressing-room.

"It is a big part of achieving success. You don't win games, and promotion, without team spirit.

"Plus, if we have a big win we might be able to sort some of the club's debts out, or even offer Sven a couple of months back here until the end of the season!"

Davies scored his tenth goal of the season in the Magpies' 3-0 win at Accrington.

Some supporters feared he would be sold in the summer, along with 24-goal leading scorer Lee Hughes and keeper Kasper Schmeichel, after new owner Ray Trew said he planned to cut the wage-bill at the end of the season.

But Trew insists Davies and Hughes will definitely be at Meadow Lane next season.

"We've heard the rumours like anyone else," said Davies.

"People have said the budget is not there so we have got to get rid of players.

"If you ask any of us, Hughesy, Kasper and me, all we are focused on is winning promotion and getting this club into League One next season.

"I think it's too big a club to be in League Two, it needs to be in League One, playing against bigger teams.

"With the squad we have got and the players that have been brought in here, we're more than capable of holding our own and challenging for promotion in League One.

"The toughest challenge is getting out of this division and we know that."

After a season of terrible turmoil, Davies believes the players are benefiting from the stability at the club since Trew took control last month.

"The stability at the club now, compared to a couple of months ago, is quite incredible and the lads are responding to it," he said.

"It makes a big difference when the club is settled off-the-field.

"The new owner has come in and calmed everything right down.

"With Dave Kevan and Tommy Johnson, and all the other coaches staying, and with the new gaffer coming in, the lads feel we have a management team, and the right people at the club, to do well.

"We are just desperate to win promotion.

"When the gaffer came in, he said we're in a good position and we have got two months to give it everything we have got.

"We will do that and, hopefully, we will get our rewards at the end of it.

"Hopefully nothing is going to change at the club now and we can all have a big party at the end of the season.

"I have never worked with him (Cotterill) before, but I've played against his teams a couple of times.

"It's a new chapter with him, and he has a new way of thinking. We're quickly getting used to it."

The victories against Hereford, Macclesfield and Accrington prove that.

With 15 games left, the Magpies are in a strong position to get out of the basement division of English Football after six long years in the doldrums.

Few would bet against them winning promotion. Or even crossing the finishing post in first place in May.