Eaves and Nolan grateful for Sixfields support after Cobblers respond to midweek flak

After a tough night against Port Vale last Tuesday, when Eaves, his team-mates and the manager were all in the firing line, there was a strong sense of unity on Saturday as Cobblers put in their best performance for some time and so nearly came away with all three points.

The home side had the better chances to win it after Jimmy-Jay Morgan cancelled out Tom Eaves’ first half header but Terry Taylor and Michael Forbes could not convert when opportunity knocked. Nonetheless, Town’s fans were appreciative of the effort put in by their team.

"The crowd were great and it makes such a difference to us as players,” said Eaves. “We could hear them from the first minute to the last and I think all of the players felt it. I certainly felt it and it really lifts me and I think everyone feels the same way.”

Kevin Nolan also praised supporters, adding: "The atmosphere was great and that’s what happens. Football is all about moments. If we don’t concede that goal just before half-time against Port Vale, we go in 0-0 and there wouldn’t have been too many murmurs because we probably dominated most of the half and we were the better team. But when they score just before half-time, it’s a blow and we have to react to that blow. We did react but it was very, very tame.

"But I thank the fans (on Saturday) because they were absolutely excellent from minute one all the way through to the end. They sung their hearts out, as they have done since I walked in the building. There's a lot of positivity off the back of a good performance, and I'm really pleased for all the boys because they took a bit of a battering in the week and they responded.”

Eaves reached 10 goals for the season when heading in Tyrese Fornah’s cross just before half-time against Peterborough.

He said: "It was a great ball by Ty and I felt we had been teasing it for about 10 minutes. I felt he should have flashed one across a few minutes earlier but he did really well and I was really pleased to get on the end of it.”

On the game itself, Eaves continued: "It feels like two points dropped, especially after we started so well. Jake (Evans) came in and made an impact straightaway and we felt like the tide was turning and it would be a good day.

"A lot of it was good and we had few opportunities where we might have been able to convert more chances had we made better decisions. We’ll take the point and move onto the next game.

"But the performance was positive and it felt a lot better. There were some clear-cut chances and even though we didn’t take some of them, that’s encouraging for me as a striker.

"I’m not too disheartened, it’s disappointing not to win but we’ve had chances and if we can keep up this level of performance, we’ll be OK. We just have to remain positive as a group and stay positive.”