Cobblers defender Jack Baldwin felt he was partially responsible for the goal which set Mansfield on their way to victory at Sixfields on Saturday.

Having controlled much of the first half, Town fell behind within three minutes of the restart as Mansfield immediately went on the attack and broke the deadlock when Will Evans headed in Stephen Quinn’s cross.

The period of pressure which culminated in the goal all started from kick-off, and Baldwin felt he was to blame having misdirected his clearing kick when the ball came back to him right at the start of the half.

"I look at their first goal quite personally because I changed the way we do the kick-off,” explained the defender. “I always get a lot of pressure from the pass back and the kick to the corner so I tried to do it with one touch today and it didn't really go where I intended it to.

"Their centre-half won the header and then they go on the break and that set them onto the front foot so personally I'm a little bit frustrated with that. We were caught a bit cold and it wasn't a good start to the second half.”

Nevertheless, Baldwin echoed the sentiments of his manager and was positive about Town’s overall display.

"It's very frustrating because the performance was there and we're very happy with how we played for a lot of the game,” said the 31-year-old. "We produced some brilliant football and on another day we are two, three, maybe four goals up at half-time if we had taken our chances.

"We will play a lot worse this season and win but that's football and we just need to make sure that we keep trying to deliver on the messages that the manager gives to us during the week.

"If we keep playing like that, it bodes well for the rest of the season and we'll win more than we lose.”