Hatters stay six clear as Magpies fall to Red Devils

The Magpies fell behind in the first half when Jimmy Smith netted, but looked to have ensured a share of the spoils through Jon Stead’s penalty on 58 minutes.

But in stoppage time, home keeper Ross Fitzsimons needlessly kicked out at Smith after claiming a corner and was sent off, with Josh Payne converting from the spot.

That made it successive defeats for Kevin Nolan’s side and when asked about Town’s position at the summit, as they now have a game in hand over County, boss Nathan Jones said: “We’d probably prefer the fourth placed one to slip up, so we open that gap, but we can’t control anyone else.

“All we can do is try and win games and if we win enough games, we’ll get promoted, that’s all we can worry about.

“Whatever happened today (Saturday), we wouldn’t have been in a worse position as we won our game.”