Hogg confirms reason for half-time subs and dissects first half problems
Too many lost duels and an inability to get to grips with the midfield battle were the two main shortcomings highlighted by Chris Hogg for his side’s off-colour first half performance at Accrington Stanley.
Cobblers went into Saturday on the back of four largely positive and encouraging performances, and one common feature in each of those games had been how well Hogg’s men had started.
But they were extremely slow to get going at the Wham Stadium and could easily have found themselves dead and buried before the 30-minute mark. Charlie Wheelan gave Accy an early lead before Connor Evans and James Maxwell both made goal-line clearances.
Fortunate to still be in the game at half-time, Hogg made two changes, replacing James Maxwell and Sam Hoskins with Tyrese Fornah and Josh Powell, and Cobblers did improve marginally, although it was not until the final 15 minutes when they began to apply sustained pressure, eventually equalising thanks to Elliott List’s stoppage-time strike.
"Last week's performance was very good so we decided to pick the same team, but I just felt Accy had the run of it in the middle of the pitch,” reflected Hogg. “We changed it for the second half with Tyrese coming on and he sat on their holding midfielder and that gave us another body in the central area to control second balls.
"Ultimately it came to duels. We have to win more duels and the boys know that. I thought we were slightly better in the second half and we carried a bit more of a threat. We had a few chances, Ty has one off the line, Matty (Warhurst) has a header, so we had chances without being at our most creative.
"I'm sure Accrington will be frustrated to concede so late in the game but I have a lot of time and a lot of respect for them and I thought they played very well for lots of the game.”
Hogg confirmed the reason behind the decision to take off Hoskins and Maxwell at half-time, adding: “They were both tactical but it wasn't a reflection on the two players that came off, it was just how the game went and what I felt we needed at the time.
“We needed slightly different characteristics. We put Tyrese in a slightly higher position just deal with their three in the middle of the pitch and using his energy to run forward and he did that at times. All of the subs made a positive impact, especially Joe (O’Brien-Whitmarsh) and Listy.
"We tried to make attacking subs and tweak a few things and look to play more forward and be smarter than what we had been. Credit to Listy, it's a great finish and he made a good impact after coming on.”