Keith Curle on surprise McWilliams decision, Ashley-Seal's absence and contentious offside call

Keith Curle has explained the thinking behind his surprise decision to leave the in-form Shaun McWilliams on the bench for Tuesday's game at Blackpool.

The 22-year-old midfielder has played some of the best football of his career since returning from a three-game suspension last month and had been a big reason behind Town's improved performances prior to their trip to the seaside.

But he was only on the bench at Bloomfield Road and came on in the final half-hour when Cobblers were chasing the game, much to the bemusement of fans on social media.

"The reason we had Shaun on the bench was because we wanted to get more possession of the ball at the start of the game," explained Curle.

"It was an opportunity for Shaun to watch the pace of the game and then come in. We always knew it would be a tight encounter so we wanted Shaun's energy off the bench to give us a push in the last 30 minutes of the game."

Striker Benny Ashley-Seal was absent from the squad altogether and Curle revealed afterwards: "Benny went over on his ankle when we trained on Saturday after the game was called off.

"We're hoping he should be OK for Thursday when we're back in but he'll have to be assessed."

Meanwhile, Curle was frustrated with the officials after his side's 2-0 defeat for a tight offside call against Cian Bolger when the score was 1-0. Bolger was flagged offside after setting up Ryan Edmondson late on.

"It was Ryan who put the ball in the net when the goal was disallowed," said Curle. "Cian was deemed to be offside but I've had a look back at it and I can't see him being offside.

"We worked the short corner and got Cian around the back post and I can't see how the linesman can give that unless he thinks there's been a touch beforehand. He's onside, puts it back across goal and Ryan heads it in. Whether he's given somebody else offside, I don't know."