Notts County manager Kevin Nolan says he will be working harder than ever this week after his side lost 2-0 to Grimsby Town at Blundell Park.
Goals from Omar Bogle and Scott Vernon condemned Nolan to his first defeat since taking charge of the Magpies and the boss was under no illusions as to how difficult a task he has on his hands at Meadow Lane.
He said: “There are a lot of disappointed lads in the dressing room and rightly so.
“After such a good week we did not follow it up with the same commitment we showed last weekend against Mansfield.
“But you can’t expect everything to be plain sailing when we are in the situation that we are in.
“I knew it was going to be hard work and a tough job. I have never shied away from that.
“I have seen enough since I arrived to know once we get our ethics and basics in place, we will start rising up the table and I am going to be working my socks off to ensure we turn things around as quickly as possible,” he added.
One of Nolan’s key tasks will be to restore confidence to the players and, having suffered dips in form during his own playing career, he knows how hard life can be during those bad periods.
“You have that first bad touch and then the next ball comes to you and it takes three touches to control it rather than one or two, then you try a lay-off which doesn’t work and it dents your confidence.
“A lot of our players are suffering with that at the minute but they are good players, they just need to regain their mental toughness and their confidence.”