(Photo: Action Images via Reuters)
Kevin Nolan wasn’t happy when he walked off the pitch after his Notts County side opened the season with a 3-0 defeat at Coventry City.
He hadn’t seen enough guts, enough desire, enough defensive resilience. So he called his players on it. They had a ‘chat’.
“We want clean sheets and at Coventry we didn’t see that desire to stop the opposition from scoring,” the Magpies boss said.
“We didn’t throw bodies on the line and we had a chat about it. Since that day we’ve got better at it and as time goes on we will continue to improve.”
Since then results have picked up for Nolan’s men. They beat Chesterfield 2-0 in their next game, and then won a goal-fest at Wycombe 4-2. A 2-2 draw with Accrington was then followed by a 1-0 victory over Port Vale last time out.
Nolan is impressed with the turnaround: “It’s something we are working hard at and I think we will get good, positive clean-sheet performances from now until the end of the season.
“We didn’t have many when I walked in the door, but if you stop the opposition from scoring and can nick a goal, then you win the game.”
Notts County are fifth in the nascent League Two table, and host struggling Morecambe on Saturday.
