Nolan 'under no illusions' as to task at hand after identifying the main reason behind Cobblers' struggles
Kevin Nolan is ‘under no illusions’ as to the size of his task at the Cobblers after identifying a lack of confidence as the main reason behind the team’s alarming slump in form.
The speed with which Town’s season has unravelled is startling. They shipped three at Rotherham, five to Charlton and another four in Nolan's first game at Reading on Boxing Day, leaving them with the third-worst defensive record in the division.
"That's the biggest thing – the lack of confidence,” said Nolan. “You can see that. They are good players and that's why they are at this club and bit by bit we'll get them back to where we know they can be.
"We have all suffered with a lack of confidence at times. I've been in that position where you haven't won in a few games and you're conceding goals. You start look at your mates. Do you really want the ball? Do you hide a little bit?
"But we have to bring that confidence back into them. I thought there was some good stuff (against Reading) but obviously there was some really poor stuff and I'll sit down with my staff and go over the game again and analyse it.
"We have to stand up and be counted. They are going to make mistakes but I want them to know that I'm there with them and it's about your mate getting you out of trouble and it's about your reaction to making a mistake. I want positive reactions.
"The lads will be in tomorrow (Friday) and we'll make sure we're ready for Shrewsbury. We need to start better because to go down 1-0 after four minutes doesn't help you.”
If he didn’t know already, the manner of Town’s defeat on Boxing Day underlined the size of the challenge ahead.
"It's not a bigger task than what I thought,” Nolan added. “I was fully aware after speaking to Kelvin (Thomas) and the owners of what the task was and so was he. We all know where we are.
"We felt we can grow together, me as a manager and us as a club. It was never going to be a quick fix but it's about getting to the end of the season and making sure we are still in this division and doing that as comfortably as we can.
"I was under no illusions as to what I was walking into. I'm not disappointed in the lads today (Boxing Day) because I've seen what I saw on the footage and this is where I come in and my staff come in and us trying to get the messages across and being positive and building our confidence back up.”