Hogg wants Cobblers to 'play to win' and not 'sit in' when 1-0 up
Chris Hogg says he wants his team to keep attacking and not ‘sit in’ when they go 1-0 up after Saturday’s 2-0 victory at Grimsby Town.
Cobblers scored twice in a game for the first time this season when Matty Warhurst and Jon Guthrie struck either side of half-time. They were also 1-0 up at York last weekend but dropped deep in the second half and conceded a late equaliser.
Hogg said: "It was important for us to get in at half-time and the second half was all about trying to get that second goal. We wanted to play to win the game rather than sitting in and hoping. I was really pleased with a lot of the performance today.
"The second goal helps in terms of the emotional calmness but there's still a lot of things we can do better to see out the game. The main thing was we got over the line but there's learning for us in terms of managing the momentum.”
Hogg also felt the performance further justified his recent positivity, adding: "I've said before that people must think I'm a bit mad when I talk about what's inside the building but I think you've seen flashes of the potential this group has.
“For us to get to the level where we need to get and where I want us to get, we have to take our chances and that was the message at half-time. We have to be more ruthless.
"It was pleasing to see some of the attacking play but we have to score goals and capitalise on those moments. My overriding feeling again is that I know it's in there and it's about the boys bringing it out and this is another good building block to get our season up and running.
There was also praise for goalkeeper Zach Jeacock after he pulled off a couple of important saves just before half-time, with Hogg continuing: "Zach was terrific, his saves in the first half were big for us, and he's going to be a top goalkeeper, I've said that since we brought him to the club. We needed him to do his job in those moments and he stepped up.”