We’re in the fast lane says Nolan
KEVIN NOLAN is hoping to put a dent in Swansea’s week and send them crashing out of the FA Cup.
The Notts County boss is aiming to spring a shock with his League Two high-fliers at Meadown Lane tomorrow despite Swansea’s impressive defeat of Liverpool in midweek. The former Bolton, Newcastle and West Ham player believes the romance of the cup is back and he is loving every minute of it.
And he feels the Premier League’s bottom club are ripe for the taking and has pinched a few choice words from opposite number Carlos Carvalhal to underline the point. “Hopefully we can ruin their week,” he said. “They will come here on a high after that victory. Their players and supporters will be absolutely buzzing.
“Their manager explained it fantastically, saying a Formula One car doesn’t do what it’s supposed to when you stick it in London traffic. I’ll use that!
“Why can’t we win? It’s 90 minutes. I don’t fear anybody playing here at the Lane. Make no mistake, this is a tricky tie for them. They will be on the up just at the minute but we’re ready and if we can get a bit of a help from Lady Luck who knows?”
Nolan says his men will not have any hangover from seeing their promotion campaign hit a roadblock with two back-toback defeats. “This is a welcome distraction for us. I can’t wait for it,” he said.
“We’ve lost our last two games but we’ve got to put that to bed.
“I’ve seen the smiles back on my players’ faces looking forward to this. It’s no time for moping around. We are ready and looking forward to it.”
The look on the Swansea players’ faces could be one of exhaustion, after Carvalhal claimed he had to step up their workload after taking over from former Swansea boss Paul Clement.
Carvalhal claims his players are in better shape than they were a month ago under Clement’s guidance.
Swansea are still bottom of the Premier League, but Carvalhal has won three games out of six since arriving in December.
“When we started training I had some nerves,” said Carvalhal. “With Leroy Fer we set out the position and he followed what we wanted.
“He improved because he was doing things he was not doing a month before.
“He is a good footballer, but he is doing different things and we want him and the players at another level to challenge them, to improve their weaknesses and the good things they have. “We are seeing the players reach a new level because they have confidence in their new dynamic. “Lukasz Fabianski, Jordan Ayew, Ki Sung-yueng and Leroy are jumping to another level because they know exactly what they must do. To get things to work we need to push the players.” Carvalhal said he is not concerned by Swansea’s lack of movement in the transfer market and insists there is no lack of belief the club can avoid the drop. The win over Liverpool means just three points separate the division’s bottom six clubs and Carvalhal said: “It is not a question of just belief. “If it was about belief the priest – we have one here like the other clubs – could come here and tell the players we will stay here and win games. “If it is down to belief, a priest could solve the problem, not a coach. “It is about so many things, but the most important is the players because they are at the centre of everything. They deserve a lot of credit.”
I don’t fear anybody playing here