Eaves: I need to be more lazy and run less to help the team

No one in their right mind could question Eaves’ work ethic or willingness to run for the team in recent weeks; he gets through a ton of work at the top of the pitch and often it’s for very little reward.

But when any team is struggling for goals, as Cobblers had been prior to Saturday’s 3-2 win over Huddersfield, people naturally look at the striker, even when it's not necessarily their fault.

"You look inwardly first and you question if you are doing everything you can, especially in the final third,” said Eaves. “My game thrives when balls come into the box and sometimes you have to fight your own corner.

"If you're in the right places and making the right runs and the ball doesn't come in, you can make other people aware and say that the ball needs to come in.

"We're playing a different way now and there's always going to be adjustments to that and there's a lot of information to take in but I think you saw the fluidity in our play at the weekend, certainly in the first half.”

Town had scored nine goals in 16 games before beating Huddersfield but it was not as if Eaves, or anyone else for that matter, was missing chances galore.

He added: "You can feel a bit despondent as a striker when you aren't getting many chances and you can get impatient and I have tended to drift out wide in the last few weeks to try and get on the ball and get involved.

"I feel i'm being ineffective but I'm actually occupying two centre-halves and I just need to be patient and not worry if I'm not touching the ball because I don't always need to be involved.

"I do need hold the ball up better at times and I'll accept criticism when it's fair. I'm probably my own biggest critic and I always want to be better.”

Kevin Nolan has mentioned previously that he believes Eaves runs too much and would be better off conserving his energy for when Cobblers are attacking, and the 33-year-old echoed that sentiment this week.

He continued: "I feel like I run too much at times but it's actually not the running that takes it out of me. It's the wrestling and the jumping with defenders that really takes its toll and it’s so taxing on the body.

"But I do think I need to do less running and be a bit lazier and a bit more selfish. When you're not in a purple patch and not scoring, you tend to make up for it by running the channels or pressing but sometimes it's better to be more efficient with your energy.

"If you do that, you can hold the ball up better and make better decisions so I do think I need to be more efficient with how I use my energy in games."