Cobblers had 'long, hard chat' in changing room after 'unacceptable' Walsall defeat

Cobblers' players and staff held a lengthy post-match discussion in the dressing room following their hugely disappointing 3-2 defeat at Walsall on Saturday.

Callum Morton's first-half brace, his first ever in the EFL, put Town well on their way to ending a three-game losing run in all competitions.

But it all fell apart in the second 45 when Walsall scored three times, including a 93rd minute winner to the dismay of the 850 travelling fans.

Manager Keith Curle took well over an hour to appear for his post-match interview as players and staff dissected what went so horribly wrong on a wind-swept afternoon in the Midlands.

"I wouldn't say there's an obvious explanation," said Morton. "We had a long, hard chat in the changing room among the players and the staff because we know it's not acceptable.

"A two-goal lead can be dangerous but we know as a team, given how we defend and with the way we attack, we should be putting games like this to bed.

"We shouldn't let teams get back on level terms so we've spoken about it and now we're determined to put it right."

Midfielder Ryan Watson echoed those words, adding: "Everyone's frustrated in the changing room because we all want the same thing.

"We're all disappointed with how we lost but we'll look at ourselves, dust ourselves down and go again, that's all we can do."

It was all going so well for the Cobblers before half-time, and even after the break they had chances to put the game beyond Walsall's reach.

"Callum did really well," added Watson. "He took his goals nicely and we could have scored a few more to be quite honest. A couple flashed past the goal in the second-half.

"On another day those go in and the game's dead we're all happy with three points but it wasn't to be for us."