Northampton Town boss underlines threat posed by Wigan Athletic dangerman
Northampton Town manager Kevin Nolan knows exactly what to expect from Wigan Athletic new-boy Dara Costelloe this weekend.
Because the Irishman's six goals in 15 appearances during a loan spell for the Cobblers last season helped the club retain their League One status.
That form helped to catch the eye of Ryan Lowe, who swooped to land the player from Burnley on a permanent basis this summer.
Meaning Nolan is now faced with the problem of stopping Costelloe on opening day at the Brick Community Stadium.
"Good luck to the lad," said Nolan. “Wigan have a real good person on their hands, and I wish him all the best.
"I'm delighted we were able to help him in his development and I wish him well – just not against us!
"He's a fantastic lad and he was great for us. He scored plenty of goals and that obviously helped him get his move to Wigan.
"We're incredibly proud of what he did here and how we helped him. Now we move on and look for the next Dara Costelloe.
"Hopefully in January we'll be talking about someone else because they've gone and scored 10, 11 goals for us and someone's taken them off our hands and bought them."
Latics and Northampton drew 1-1 on the final day of last season at Sixfields although - given both clubs have been active in the market this summer - Nolan is not reading too much into that.
"It's the unknown, because it’s the first game of the season, and they've obviously brought in new players," added Nolan, in the Northampton Chronicle, sister paper of Wigan Today.
"They have signed three top forwards for the level so we'll have to look at the footage from pre-season.
"They are a good side and Lowey is known for getting the best out of players.
"He knows this level and he's been around for a long time so they're going to be competitive, no doubt about it.
"He's a good manager and a very good lad and I'm looking forward to pitting my wits against him.
"It'll be interesting because it's the first game so you expect something a bit different, but they have certainly strengthened from where they were last season.
"It feels a bit weird to be playing them first game after playing them on the last day last season, but I’m excited for the challenge and we all just want to get going.”