'Not good enough' - Nolan makes no excuses for 'unacceptable' defeat to Rotherham
Cobblers boss Kevin Nolan admitted it ‘wasn’t good enough’ against Rotherham United on Tuesday, and he was particularly critical of the two goals his side conceded in the 2-0 defeat, describing them as ‘not acceptable’.
Town played with no shape or cohesion in the first half and were lucky to still be in the game at half-time, trailing only to Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu’s instinctive finish, before a better spell after the break was brought to an abrupt end by Sam Nombe’s sucker-punch.
Nolan kept his players in the changing room for a long time after the game. When he did emerge for his post-match interview, he said: “I just wanted to clarify a lot of things that weren’t good enough tonight. Simple as that.
"We weren't good enough and that's why we were beaten and we lost to two really poor goals again. It's very similar to the goals we've conceded in the past few weeks. I felt we were slightly better than what we were against Blackpool in our last home game but the manner of the two goals we gave away are not acceptable.
"It's not up to our standards and what we want to do. There was a reaction in the second half and we gained a bit of momentum but the first attack they have, it's just a ball from the goalkeeper and we kick it out for a corner. The corner they took didn't look like it was supposed to come in like it did but suddenly there's a scramble, we don't clear it and it bounces to their lad. It's really poor on our behalf."