Kevin Nolan 'really frustrated' after defeat at Stevenage
Kevin Nolan admitted he was ‘really frustrated’ after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Stevenage.
Cobblers barely gave up a chance for 65 minutes at the Lamex but one lapse allowed Dan Kemp to break the deadlock before Gasan Ahadme made it two, and a lack of quality – once again – in the final third meant there was no way back for the visitors.
"I’m really frustrated,” admitted Nolan. “I thought we dominated large parts of the game but we didn’t put them under that much pressure with all of the possession we had at times. That’s something we need to get better at.
"We spoke at half-time about the things we needed to be better at and the importance of staying diligent because that’s what they do. They stay in games, they do everything right, they put balls in behind you and they’re good on set-pieces.
"In the first half I thought we won our duels, we won second balls and we were good on first contact. But we came off it in the second half and we gave away a cheap free-kick and then we lost the first contact, lost the second contact and lost the third contact and suddenly we’re 1-0 down when there’s been nothing in the game. You’re going to be punished if you don’t do those things properly so I’m disappointed with that.
"We created decent chances and we should have scored a couple of goals but it’s the reality of the league. I’m pleased with a lot of it but you’ve got to do it for the whole 90 minutes.”