Campbell: We're a lot better than that and we will show it
Dean Campbell believes manager Kevin Nolan will not tolerate a similarly off-colour performance in the future after admitting Cobblers were ‘sloppy’ in their defeat at Wigan on Saturday.
Town made an inauspicious start to the new League One campaign when beaten by Jensen Weir’s header and a brace from Fraser Murray as Nolan’s revamped team lacked cohesion and struggled to assert themselves.
"We’re all disappointed because we know we’re a lot better than that and we will show that,” said Campbell. “The manager won’t let us play like that again this season. I’m honoured to make my debut for the club but we were off it and there’s a lot of work to do to bounce back.
"There might be a period where we need to gel a bit and there were spells in the game where we played some OK stuff but not enough and the goals we conceded were sloppy. They should be our bread and butter and they’re not goals we should be conceding throughout the season.
"But the more we gel, the better we will become. We have a whole week to improve. We need to start better, we need to defend our box better and defend corners and free-kicks better. There will be a lot of work in the week and we’ll make sure we are all at it and bounce back with a positive performance at home. I know I can get better and I want to be someone that the team can rely on week in, week out.
"We’re grateful to the fans, they were brilliant and it was amazing to see them all. We’re so disappointed to let them down but we’re in it together and we’ll make sure we put on a performance that the fans deserve this weekend.”