Bentley questions Dale desire as they slump to defeat against the Cobblers

Bentley admitted he saw worrying 'frailties' in his team as they crumbled to defeat, with Jon Guthrie's belter before the break and Sam Hoskins' second-half double sealing the points for the Cobblers.

But the Dale boss also praised Town, saying they are a team 'that are good at what they do'.

Since replacing Robbie Stockdale at the Spotland helm, Bentley has seen his team draw twice in Sky Bet League Two, and suffer a narrow 1-0 defeat to leaders Leyton Orient.

But despite a bright start at Sixfields, Dale faded badly and were eventually well beaten to leave them rock-bottom with just two points from nine games.

"We are very disappointed," admitted Bentley.

"We have been in the building for three weeks and I have heaped praise on the players, and we played the team at the top of the table in midweek and ran them very close and could have took a point from them.

"But I have seen some frailties today that is not a reflection of how we have worked, and how we want to work moving forward with the position we are in.

"We have come to another team that are flying high, that are good at what they do and they ask questions.

"They test your resilience, they test your desire, they get the ball forward, they compete, they battle, they are a team of men and they are efficient at what they do.

"I thought in the first half, certainly the first 25 minutes or so, we were were on top.

"There wasn't much else in the half for me, there wasn't much in the game, and then they score a goal that was one of those where it could go out of the ground or fly into the top corner, and unfortunately for us it went in the top corner.

"That meant we were 1-0 down at half-time which we didn't deserve.

"In the second half we were poor, but I felt we were well in the game at 1-0 down, against a team that are the top scorers in the league.

"Liam Kelly then has a fantastic chance at the back post to make it 1-1 and it could have been a different game and a different story."

And he added: "We then gave them a leg up, and our goalkeeper has had nothing to do and suddenly he is facing a penalty.

"He saves it, and the alarming thing when you are talking about grit and determination and backing each other up, who was there to follow in on it and smash it clear?

"But they score it and after that it was not a reflection of what we expect and I felt sorry for our fans that travelled."