Kevin Nolan says Cobblers will 'play a lot worse and win' after Cardiff City defeat

Town dominated most of the statistics on Saturday, including the shot count, taking 16 to Cardiff’s 10, but the visitors walked away with all three points thanks to their superior finishing.

"I'm proud of my lads but what I'm not happy about is that we didn't get a result,” said Nolan. “We will play a lot worse this season and win games, I'm sure of that, but it's a kick in the teeth when you produce a performance like that and don't get the result you deserve. I know I'm smiling but inside I'm gutted about it.

"Keep playing like that and we'll win more than we lose but that's the challenge now – can we go and produce the same performance at Plymouth next week? Not many teams have done that to Cardiff this season but what we have to do now is take the good things from it, build on it and get a result.”

Cobblers remain the second lowest scorers in League One with 13 goals from 16 games, above only Port Vale (11).

"The hardest thing in football is to put the ball in the net but what I'm pleased about is that we created more chances and we had more chances,” Nolan continued. “We should have scored but the players executed the game plan.

"We’ll sit down this week and come up with a game plan for Plymouth. They had an important win at the weekend but we have to go there and get the crowd a bit anxious and perform like we did against Cardiff, not just with the ball but without it because I thought we were excellent out of possession.”