Kevin Nolan talks fondly of Dara Costelloe as Cobblers prepare for 'tough' opener at Wigan Athletic
Kevin Nolan only has positive things to say about Dara Costelloe ahead of Saturday's reunion at the Brick Community Stadium.
The 22-year-old Irishman played for Cobblers against Wigan on the final day of last season, but he will be on the opposite side when the new League One campaign gets underway this weekend after moving to the Latics from Burnley for a reported fee of more than £300k.
Costelloe was excellent during his loan spell at Sixfields, playing a major role in keeping Northampton in League One with six goals in 15 appearances, and it was his performances in claret that caught the eye of Wigan boss Ryan Lowe.
"Good luck to the lad,” said Nolan this week. “Wigan have a real good person on their hands and I wish him all the best. I'm delighted that we were able to help him in his development and I wish him well – just not against us!
"He's a fantastic lad and he was great for us. He scored plenty of goals and that obviously helped him get his move to Wigan. We're incredibly proud of what he did here and how we helped him.
"Now we move on and look for the next Dara Costelloe – hopefully in January we'll be talking about someone else because they've gone and scored 10, 11 goals for us and someone's taken them off our hands and bought them."
Wigan have also signed former Wrexham and Cambridge goal machine Paul Mullin, as well as ex-Pompey man Christian Saydee, as they look to turn things around under Lowe after a couple of disappointing League One campaigns.
"It's the unknown because it’s the first game of the season and they've obviously brought in new players,” Nolan added. “They have signed three top forwards for the level so we'll have to look at the footage from pre-season.
"They are a good side and Lowey is known for getting the best out of players. He knows this level and he's been around for a long time so they're going to be competitive, no doubt about it. He's a good manager and a very good lad and I'm looking forward to pitting my wits against him.
"It'll be interesting because it's the first game so you expect something a bit different, but they have certainly strengthened from where they were last season. It feels a bit weird to be playing them first game after playing them on the last day last season, but I’m excited for the challenge and we all just want to get going.”