Alassana Jatta earns international call-up after fine form for Notts County

Alassana Jatta’s performances for Notts County have caught the attention of The Gambia, who have called up the striker for the upcoming internationals.

Jatta, who has yet to receive a cap for his national team, was called up for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Comoros and Tunisia on November 15 and 18, respectively. This means he will miss Notts’ league fixture away at Crewe Alexandra.

The 25-year-old has been in great form for the Magpies to start the campaign, contributing eight goals in 10 league appearances and three more in the cup competitions.

In total, Jatta has netted 14 times in just 22 appearances for Notts since his January arrival from Danish top-flight outfit Viborg. He has played a big role in ensuring the team have not suffered in terms of goal scoring after Macaulay Langstaff's departure in the summer.

Notts plucked a great talent from a foreign market and have themselves a centre-forward who has adapted quickly to the physicality of the English game with his big frame and finishing ability, allowing to provide a regular flow of goals.

The County system creates many chances for its attacking players, but they still need to be finished off, and the team has been able to rely on Jatta, amongst others, to do just that. Stuart Maynard has been impressed with how quickly the Gambian forward has settled in at Notts, as he now looks set to make his debut on the international stage with his nation.

Maynard said: “He’s been incredible from minute one since he walked through the door. He came in January, and I said then that he would need time and we’d have to be patient with him.

“He upheaved his life by moving to a different country, which can be very difficult to adapt to a new culture and a different style of football, but he has needed no time to settle in.

“He’s come in straight away and settled within the team, which is a huge credit to himself with the way he has adapted to English football, and he keeps getting better and better week by week.

“You need a structure that can create goals for everyone in the team, and when you lose a player like Macca [Langstaff], as we did in the summer, we had to make sure that our structure could cope with losing a player that provided a large number of goals.

“We believe that it has, and Jatta has got better in our system with each game. He’s a goalscorer primarily, but he also provides another dimension to our play with his physical stature.”

It is the final round of qualifying games for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations, with Jatta called up to try to get The Gambia into the top teams in their group, going against the two nations currently above them in Comoros and Tunisia.