Kevin Nolan hails Notts County's "great escape"

Kevin Nolan has praised his Notts County players for all they have achieved in the last four months as they went from relegation certainties to mathematically assured of League Two football next season.

The Magpies were in dire straits coming into 2017, with a ten-match losing run symptomatic of the malaise at the club, and it looked like they were heading out of the Football League.

However Alan Hardy's takeover of the club, combined with Nolan's appointment as manager, saw a slow but steady revival that culminated in Notts securing safety against Portsmouth on Easter Monday.

And despite Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Luton Town, which left the manager bemoaning his team's performance, he nonetheless had good words to say about the players in terms of the long-term displays which have saved the club from the drop.

Nolan told the official Notts website:  “I don’t want to come away from what we have achieved in such a short space of time.

“When I came in, everyone thought we would be coming to this stage of the season still in the relegation battle so it is a fantastic achievement [to already be safe].

“The teams who perform great escapes often do it on the final day but we haven’t. This has been a great escape. Hats off to Alan Hardy and the players for buying into me.

“The lads have been through a hell of a lot and I am sure we will get a reaction from them at home to Blackpool next Saturday. I’m looking forward to it.”

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