Group meeting between players and staff helped Cobblers turn their form around

Cobblers held a whole group meeting between all players and staff in an attempt to reverse their fortunes following three successive defeats – and it looks to have done the trick thanks to back-to-back wins this week.

Northampton were beaten 1-0 by both Wycombe and Port Vale and then lost 2-1 to Barnsley, and whilst their performances were generally positive in those games, small mistakes and fine margins were costing them crucial points.

Manager Jon Brady called a meeting of all players and staff immediately after the defeat to Barnsley, and whatever was said appears to have done the trick with Cobblers picking up impressive and well-deserved wins over Exeter City and Reading this week.

"It's been a really good week for us,” said Mitch Pinnock, whose third goal put the gloss on Tuesday’s 3-1 win at Sixfields. “We had a good chat after the Barnsley game and we worked on a few things and I think that's showed in the last couple of games.

"It was more of a whole group thing. It wasn't just a couple of players, it was the whole team and all of the staff and we spoke about a few things. We know we have played well in most games this season but it was just about trying to find that extra bit to score more goals and turn performances into wins.

"We've been really solid at the back, that hasn't been an issue, but we've worked on stuff going forward and it's paid off in the last two games.”

The most impressive aspect of Tuesday’s win over Reading was that it required Cobblers to show two very different sides of their game. If the first half was all about high energy and slick attacking play, the second became a test of guts and determination to get the job done.

Town’s players passed both tests with flying colours as Sam Hoskins and Louis Appéré laid the groundwork with first half strikes before Pinnock added some late gloss to seal a second win in the space of four days.

The performances have not differed too much from when Cobblers lost three in a row but they are now on the right side of those fine, often crucial, details.

"We do a lot of work on what to do off the ball so we knew what we needed to do against them,” Pinnock added. “They try playing through the middle quite a bit but I thought we nullified them.

"The subs came on and were brilliant and they helped us get over the line, and the goal at the end made it a bit more comfortable. Their goalkeeper has hadn't had a blinder but you've just got to hit the target and see what happens.

"It's been a tiring few days but we'll have a day off and then get back to work on Thursday. The Exeter game was a tough one, we covered quite a lot of distance because we didn't have as much of the ball as other games.

"But you've got to put in hard work to get wins and we've set our targets and made a good start and hopefully we can get another win on Saturday.”

It looks a lot of fun to play in this team, especially for someone like Pinnock who is given the licence to drift wherever he wants to pick the ball up and create problems for the opposition.

"It's brilliant to play in this team,” confirmed the winger. “We've played well a lot this season without getting the results we deserve but you've got to keep doing the right things and the wins will come.

"Winning is more important than playing well but we're doing both at the moment and the football is a lot better than last season.

"I'm really enjoying it and I think everyone is enjoying it. We've been in every game and we haven't lost by a big margin against any team so I think we're in a good place.”