Curle still believes Cobblers can reach the top three in League Two

Town could have moved fourth and within two points of third had they beaten Port Vale on Saturday but defeat in that game, followed by another one to leaders Swindon on Tuesday, has left them eight points adrift.

Swindon lead the division by two points from Crewe, who are a further point clear of Exeter, while Plymouth and Colchester are also above the Cobblers.

But with 14 games to go, many of which are against their promotion rivals, Curle still believes his side can win automatic promotion,

"We're still aiming for the top three because there'll be a lot of twists and tuns between now and end of the season," he said.

"I don't think one team in the top half of the table will go on and win every single game.

"Lots of teams have still got to play each other so there'll be massive twists and turns and we've got to be ready.

"It's not us reseting the focus as such, it's about identifying key areas and the key one percents all over the team that we can improve on.

"We are a developing squad and we're on an upward curve from where we were but we still have room for improvement."