Cobblers use rare week off to hit the 'reset button' and hold 'honest conversations'

A last-gasp 3-2 defeat at Walsall last weekend made it four straight losses in all competitions for Northampton, dropping them out of the League Two play-offs as a result.

This week has been the first for over a month without a Tuesday fixture and that extra time off has presented an opportunity for players and coaches to clear the air and pinpoint exactly where things have gone wrong.

"We've got an honest environment whereby I give my opinion, individually and collectively, straight after a game," said manager Keith Curle.

"Sometimes you can get caught up in the emotion and I'm mindful of what I say and how I say things but we picked the bones out of it on Monday and Tuesday and that's when we went into more detail.

"We need to get back to basics and this week has been an opportunity to reset the buttons and focus on what our individual standards are."

The Cobblers are still very much in the promotion mix, outside the top seven on goal difference alone, but they can't afford another winless week as title-chasing Exeter visit on Saturday before they go to Cheltenham and Grimsby.

"The easiest job in the world is to manage a team when they're winning," Curle added.

"This is what I get to paid for now - to identify where we still need to improve, individually and collectively, and getting the players to maintain the belief that got us on the good run and get back to the basics and the starting point.

"That's what got us in good form to start with. First and foremost, we stop the opposition from playing, then we play in good areas and have that creativity and freedom in the opposition's final third and make good decisions.

"We still had good opportunities in the game on Saturday. At 2-1 we had two balls flashed across their goal and if it goes to 3-1 or 4-1, it's a different story.

"But, at the minute, at crucial times things aren't going our way. But, to make those things change, you have to work harder."