Kevin Nolan left disappointed as Notts County’s standards drop

Posted Monday, March 26, 2018 by PA

Notts County manager Kevin Nolan admitted his team’s standards had dropped after they were beaten 3-1 by a Chesterfield team who claimed a vital win in their fight to stay in the Football League.

Nolan saw his side come second best on a day when Chesterfield gave themselves hope of climbing out of the relegation zone.

Sid Nelson gave them a deserved 16th minute lead when he chested the ball in after Drew Talbot glanced on a corner and Zavon Hines made it two from 12 yards after a Kristian Dennis shot was blocked.

County never got into the game and although former Chesterfield defender Dan Jones scored with a free kick that evaded everyone in the 85th minute, Chesterfield sealed victory deep into nine minutes of stoppage time.

Andy Kellett was tripped by Matt Tootle when he broke clear and Dennis coolly beat Adam Collin from the penalty spot.

Nolan had no complaints about a result that damages County’s automatic promotion hopes and said: “We can’t do anything else but take it on the chin.

“Chesterfield were better than us today, they worked harder, did the nastier bits out of possession really well and in possession they kept the ball a lot better than us.

“Fair play to them, they got their just reward and I’ve got no complaints about the result. We were way below our standards and what we are about.

“When you are not playing well, you go back to basics but we didn’t even do that well and that’s disappointing because we’ve been really good at that all season.”

Chesterfield manager Jack Lester said: “That performance gives belief to the players as well and is a good reminder of what they can do against a team that’s going for automatic (promotion) so there was a lot to be pleased about.

“We’ve had similar performances and now we’re getting a few players back and it has a different feel when you have players who know how to win football matches out there.

“We need to repeat those performances but it gives you confidence when you outplay a team that is going for automatic. I thought we were really bright and we stopped their attacks at source and put in a really high energy performance.

“What really pleased me most was the performance after their goal, I thought we were the best team. Everyone played their part and without the ball we were superb.”