Kevin Nolan pleased with 'fantastic point' for Cobblers against Shrewsbury
Kevin Nolan felt Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Shrewsbury was a ‘fantastic point’ for the Cobblers.
After six defeats in seven, Town stopped the rot with a hard-fought draw in Shropshire. Aaron Pierre broke the deadlock against his former club but Cameron McGeehan responded with his seventh goal of the season four minutes later.
"I’ve played against Gareth (Ainsworth) before and I knew Gareth as a player so we knew we would have to stand up and be counted and the lads did that to a man," reflected Nolan. “That’s really pleasing for me.
“The players felt they let themselves down on Boxing Day but it was a good response. I thought their goal came against the run of play but the response from the lads was magnificent and they put their bodies on the line.
"When balls came into our box they got the first contacts and the second contacts and those were the things we have talked about over the last two days when we looked at the videos.
"The lads did it brilliantly and I’m delighted for them. I think it’s a fantastic point and you have to respect those points when they come. We now have a home game and we want to build on this.
"I’ve put an emphasis on our principles and not giving the ball away and conceding silly free-kicks. I thought we did give away too many free-kicks in our half and I felt the ref was a bit quick to put the whistle to his mouth at times.
"But the lads stood up and were counted and I respect that because that’s what I want from my team. I want them to battle and to fight and then hopefully we will start playing more as we pick up points and move up the table.”