Angry Austin 'feels let down by players' as he apologises for Mansfield thrashing in emotional interview

Austin was visibly very angry and frustrated by what he had just witnessed after Town were comprehensively outclassed by the Stags to drop to 21st in Sky Bet League Two, extending their woeful form to just one win in 12 games.

The rout started as early as the fifth minute when Timi Elsnik took advantage of hesitant defending to sweep home before Northampton completely went to pieces in a dreadful second-half.

Mansfield forward Danny Rose scored twice, either side of CJ Hamilton's strike, and it could have been more had David Cornell not produced several decent stops in the away goal as Austin was left to give an emotional interview shortly after full-time.

"I can only apologise to our faithful for what we served up today," said the Northampton manager.

"We started off OK, we were quite bright but then on five minutes we give away a stupid goal from our own set-piece and you're then chasing the game.

"We were kind of in it in the first-half without creating too much but the concerning thing from my point of view is that we were playing well in the early part of the season and created chances but not scoring.

"Now, we're not even playing well and we're not creating chances so that's concerning, but I'm not going to stand for that performance."

Austin did not give his players the hairdryer treatment immediately after Saturday's defeat but his words and animated demeanour made it clear what he thought.

"The boys know that I'm not going to say too much now but they'll be big changes on Tuesday," he added.

"Obviously it's only a few minutes after the game and I'm very, very emotional. I feel let down and I feel I've let the fans down and myself down, even though I'm not on the field.

"The preparation was again very good, as it normally is, but I'm angry, I'm really angry."