Nolan has belief that Cobblers can cause big upset against League One title chasers
Cobblers boss Kevin Nolan does not see any reason why his side can’t go to Wycombe Wanderers this weekend and be a match for League One’s surprise title contenders.
Not many had Wycombe down as a title pick, particularly given the strength of this year’s iteration, but they continue to fly high in second, behind only Birmingham City. Not even the loss of Luton-bound manager Matt Bloomfield has fazed them, and they’ll be eyeing another three points against relegation-threatened opponents on Saturday.
Nolan said: "I have followed Wycombe quite closely because my friend (Richard Thomas) has been there and he’s just left to go to Luton to be assistant manager. He was my assistant at Notts County and I worked with him at Leyton Orient as well so I’ve known him a long time and it was fantastic to see them get an opportunity in the Championship.
"I’ve been wishing them and Wycombe all the best this season but I won’t be doing that on Saturday! But they’ve created a really good side and a really strong, solid unit with good individual players. They do the right things more often than not and that’s why they are at the top of the league so it'll be a difficult one for us but we have to go there and see where we’re at.
"I’ll be interested come 5pm on Saturday to see where we’re at and see if we can match the top teams because I believe we can. That’s my thoughts and there’s no better teams to play than the ones who are in form and doing the business. It’s a challenge to go there and upset the applecart and that’s what we’ll be trying to do on Saturday.”
Nolan will be in a minority who believe Cobblers can get something from Saturday’s game but he’s urging his players to have the belief that they are capable of causing an upset.
He added: "We are where we are for a reason and I’m not going to get away from that but I do believe this squad is capable of matching them on the day and the players have to believe that as well. When we start matching them on the day, we then take that to weeks and months but we have to take it game by game and there’s no easy games in this league.
"We have to go there with belief and we have to stick to our game plan and if we execute our game plan, I’m sure we can come away with another positive result.”