The three things Kevin Nolan wants to see more of from Cobblers
There are three things Kevin Nolan wants to see more of from his team as they look to continue their good form – crosses, shots and goals.
Defensively, Cobblers are among the best in League One so far this season. They have five clean sheets in nine games – only Cardiff and Huddersfield have more (6 each) – while only the Bluebirds have conceded fewer goals.
But the numbers are not quite so impressive at the other end. Town’s seven goals is the second fewest in the division, above only Burton, and that’s where they will need to improve to remain well away from trouble. When asked what he wants to see more of from his side, Nolan had a clear answer.
"Crosses, shots and goals,” he said. “I’ll always take more clean sheets as well, but it’s all about piecing it all together and we’re putting more balls in the box and we’re more threatening than we were and that needs to continue.
“What I’m also pleased about is that we’re scoring late in games because very rarely did we see that last season. We had to be 2-0 or 3-0 up before 60 minutes and then try and cling on, but now we’re finishing games really strong and that is down to the work we did in pre-season.
"The lads have got it in their legs to go and go again and keep going. The work ethic is very pleasing and I can see the confidence growing within the group, but we can always get better because we did gift Bolton some moments and we need to eradicate those mistakes.
"We addressed that this week and we move on to Port Vale. It’s another tough one but they are all difficult games in League One and teams are now finding that they won't get an easy game against us either. The lads are in a good place and we just have to keep nailing down our principles and go and produce more performances and results like the one against Bolton.”