Improved Cobblers 'deserved more' from Bury draw, insists boss Hasselbaink

Marc Richards and Matt Crooks were both guilty of missing good chances during a frenetic and often low-quality affair but Bury also had their opportunities with Rohan Ince twice denied by Matt Ingram when clean through on goal.

But following Tuesday's tepid performance and defeat at Plymouth, Hasselbaink declared himself pleased with Town's improvement and even expressed his frustration at the reaction of home fans inside Sixfields.

Some booing was heard at full-time as Northampton left the pitch after failing to score for the 11th different league game this season, with the result also not enough to shift them from the relegation zone.

"It was a much-improved performance and I think we played really well," said Hasselbaink afterwards.

"We passed the ball, we created overloads in certain areas and there was more confidence on the ball so it was a very good performance and I think we deserved more out of it.

"In the second-half, when we were on top, we gave away a chance on the counter-attack and Matt Ingram also recovered very well after a mix-up but we created a lot more in the first-half and in the second-half.

"Look, we want to score, don't get me wrong and we are doing everything in our power to score but sometimes we need a little bit more encouragement from the fans.

"They've actually played well. We played some really good, modern football. We tried to keep the ball on the deck and get overloads in certain areas and on a different day it could have been 2-1 or 3-1 to us and I don't understand that (fans' reaction), it frustrates me a little bit."