Former Wanderer Kevin Nolan is upbeat after an eventful start to his time in charge of fellow League One club Northampton.

Nolan was named the new boss at Sixfields just before Christmas, succeeding Jon Brady in the dugout.

His first game in charge was a 4-1 defeat at Reading amid a brutal injury list but since then, the Cobblers have picked up five points out of nine, including a hard-fought win at Burton over the weekend.

“I think I am 13 days in, four games in a short space of time,” Nolan told the club channels. “I think you can see the improvement in the lads, what they want to do and how they want to do it.

“I thought we were much the better side in the fist half (at Burton) and should have been at least 1-0 up. It wasn’t to be, but I told the lads they have to keep digging in and if we get a clean sheet, we will get another opportunity.

“Two fantastic saves (by Nik Tzanev) which you will need in these battles and you get your reward at the end because of the effort, quality and resilience.

“We had lads playing who were on borrowed minutes really, but they are digging in. They want to do it, they are all together.

“Fantastic effort. The lads have got a couple of days off now, well earned rest, and me too. Hopefully, I will get a bit of sleep, refresh and get ready for Barnsley.”

Northampton were leaking goals before Nolan took charge and the former West Ham coach has been encouraged by their resilience in the past few games.

The Cobblers are now 18th in the table, six points above the drop zone, and Nolan hopes they can keep heading in the right direction.

Next up is a tough test against a Barnsley side who have won four in a row and sit in the play-off places.

“I think that was majorly important coming into the club. We were conceding and obviously, in my first game, we were a bit too loose at the back,” Nolan explained.

“But I think the lads have responded well to the out of possession stuff, what I expect and our principles. You see it - blocks, getting in front of people, clearances.”

He added: “I am so proud of the boys, how they have reacted to me and what they have done. I am proud of the staff, they have taken everything I have thrown at them and been brilliant.

“They have helped me massively to get where we are now. Five points in the last three games, from where we were, I told the lads we can enjoy it today but we start looking to Barnsley.

“It’s another home game which we want to win. We want another clean sheet and want to keep going like that until the end of the season.

“I want to be looking up and not looking down or behind us, that is the mentality I want to bring.”