Nolan demands boardroom backing

20 October 2009 09:29
Newcastle midfielder Kevin Nolan has warned owner Mike Ashley the squad needs to be strengthened in January if the club is to maintain its promotion push. The Magpies slipped from the top of the Coca-Cola Championship table on Saturday evening, albeit on goals scored, after a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest enabled West Brom to overhaul them. "We need to strengthen. We have been saying this for a long, long time and it seems to have fallen on deaf ears," Nolan told the Journal. The Toony Army faced Forest with key defenders Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini back in the treatment room on Tyneside and with little prospect of returning for the trip to Scunthorpe. Loan signings Zurab Khizanishvili and specialist full-back Danny Simpson lined up in central defence as caretaker boss Chris Hughton found his resources once again stretched to the limit. That is a situation Nolan believes cannot continue if the club is to sustain a serious challenge for a swift return to the Barclays Premier League. "We need to strengthen the squad if we are going to give ourselves the best chance of going up. It's a paper-thin squad and a couple of injuries kill us. It can't be allowed to happen and it is frustrating to have to keep saying it," he added.

Source: Eurosport