Bullish Curle insists he can drag Cobblers out from the doldrums as pressure mounts

A bullish Keith Curle insists he can drag the Cobblers out from the doldrums and keep them in Sky Bet League One this season despite their alarming defeat to Wigan Athletic on Tuesday.

Town have just a solitary victory from their past 10 league games after Callum Lang's late winner punished a pitiful performance on a bitterly cold evening at the PTS Academy Stadium.

They are now 23rd in League One and above only Burton Albion, whom they entertain on Saturday. But with fans letting their feelings known on social media after Tuesday's defeat, and despite the worrying manner of his side's performance, Curle is staying defiant.

"Yes, I don't have any doubts," he said. "I'm a fighter and I will fight and scrap and I will get people on-board to put in performances and gain results to get what we need and that's to stay in this division this season.

"The beauty of this profession is that we have games coming thick and fast and, individually, we all need to turn up. That's my job - to get people to turn up.

"On Tuesday, players didn't turn up and didn't do the basics and didn't do the simple things. We will reset and identify exactly what we did well at Accrington on Saturday.

"But we're a team, we're a squad and we're a football club that knows where we're at. We're in a fight and we're all going to fight."

Not for the first time this season, Curle kept his players locked in the changing room for a lengthy post-match 'discussion' following Tuesday's defeat.

"I am entitled to have my say after a game," he added. "The players perform for 90 minutes and they represent themselves but my job is to make sure that they fully understand what my view is of their individual and collective performances.

"I do that after every game."

Curle also revealed Shaun McWilliams and Jack Sowerby came off at half-time with minor injury concerns.