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Nolan: Goal Was Only My Second Touch
Thursday, 14th Feb 2019 17:41

It may only have been his second goal for Town but Jon Nolan could not conceal his delight at finding the net in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Derby to earn what could yet be a precious point.

Midfielder Nolan, who followed ex-manager Paul Hurst from Shrewsbury in the summer and was also on target when he opened the scoring in the 2-2 draw at Birmingham in September, made a massive impact after coming off the bench to replace Flynn Downes against Frank Lampard’s side, who were still holding on to the 1-0 lead they had taken in just the second minute.

Nolan’s introduction came in the 53rd minute and two minutes later Portman Road erupted as he took a pass from Huddersfield loanee Collin Quaner’s in his stride to fire low and hard beyond Rams’ keeper Kelle Roos from just inside the 18-yard area.

The Huyton-born former Everton youngster said: “It was only my second touch after I came on, so I’ll take that!

“Collin did a great job and that’s the best I’ve seen from him since he came in.

“I would even say that if he can play like that every week he’ll be unplayable. He and Will Keane up top were a bit of a nightmare for Derby and long may that continue.

“Before I went on the gaffer spoke to me about getting forward, creating space and getting into the box.

“We all know our jobs, really, so I knew I had to do that and try to get into the box, looking for scoring opportunities, and luckily when one dropped for me I was able to put it in the back of the net.

“When I was sitting on the bench watching the game I was thinking how well the lads were doing.

“It was really, really good. I thought Bish and Doz served us well in there. We had a young midfield but I thought they were excellent.

“I said to some of the lads afterwards that playing the whole 90 minutes would have been easier.

“It seemed as if it was 90 miles an hour in the time I was on the pitch. The gaffer wants us to press and overall I thought we were excellent.

“All the lads are buzzing after that. The results have been tough on us lately and I think you could see from the fans’ reaction at the end that they appreciated the fact that we had a go.

“We played a new formation in both the Norwich and Derby games and I think it has worked well. Now we need to be ready to go again against Stoke on Saturday and take it to them.”

The only down side to taking a well deserved draw on Wednesday is that it did nothing to improve Town’s situation at the bottom of the table, where they remain 10 points from safety with 14 league games remaining.

It is going to require an incredible run of form to bank the necessary number of points to ensure survival but at the very least it is clear Paul Lambert’s team, if they do eventually succumb, will do so giving their all.

Nolan added: “We check and see what the other teams are doing but all we can do to influence the situation is concentrate on ourselves and make sure we start picking up more points.

“We’ve got 14 games to go and it’s all about picking up as many points as we can.”


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Erics_size_5s added 18:56 - Feb 14
Could be Matt Holland-esque next season in Div 1, then if he has a strong 19/20 season, push on as a valuable championship player when we get promoted in 15 months' time.
4

ITFCsince73 added 19:06 - Feb 14
He was well respected in L1. And I've always felt he will turn into a good signing. Was never going to be easy as all Paul Hursts signings haven't been particularly welcomed.
I still feel there is a lot more to come from all those lower league signings.
And I'm sure the majority of them will come good.
Same with Paul Hirst himself, you don't become bad at your job overnight.
Sometimes it takes time to settle in.
In football it appears you don't get that time. And as I say must be even harder when your not welcomed from the start.
4

Cakeman added 19:20 - Feb 14
ITFCsince73, I agree with you regarding Paul Hurst's signings not being particularly welcomed. That is sad and unfair on them as they were all excited to be given an opportunity to play at a higher level and must have felt vulnerable once the man who brought them into our club was sacked. They deserve to be given a fair chance and I think under Paul Lambert they will do. It may well be that some do not cut the mustard whereas the likes of Jon Nolan and Ellis Harrison could be fine.
8

OwainG1992 added 22:38 - Feb 14
Agree with the previous comments. It's true that if you were signed by Hurst you've basically been written off already.
Harrison made a difference when he came off the bench against Norwich. Nolan was terrific when he came on yesterday.
I also can see Nsiala becoming a top player for us too.
3

bobble added 22:38 - Feb 14
been here a year and only touched the ball twice, pretty much sums up the new hurst signings...
-2

Guthrum added 07:48 - Feb 15
He didn't work particularly well in the Hurst setup, but now has someone ahead of him (Quaner, doing again what I saw at Villa) who can drive at the opposition, keep the ball and, by drawing in defenders, create space for Nolan to run into.

I feel that one of Hurst's biggest errors was underestimating the step up in strength, speed and organisation of Championship defences over those in League One. Lambert has the tactical knowlege and now some personnel to unlock that and make better use of a player who was, after all, done well in his previous career.
4

ChrisFelix added 08:59 - Feb 15
I am probably not alone in being pleases to see some energy in midfield. Please don't bring back the snail ( Skuse). Chalabar must be our only holding midfield player
3

FenboyBlue added 12:34 - Feb 15
and that was a right touch!
0


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