'Maybe they think they're better than they are' - Nolan questions the 'mentality' of his players

Cobblers suffered their third successive defeat in all competitions when dumped out of the first round at Oldham Athletic and, not for the first time this season, they were beaten by a team in indifferent form heading into the game. The likes of Reading, Rotherham and Luton all defeated Northampton after a mixed run of results, while Oldham hadn’t won in five League Two matches before cruising into round two on Saturday.

Nolan said: “I've just questioned the mentality because it feels like every time we go to a team who aren't on a good run, even in League One, I don't think we've turned up as well as we have when we've played a so-called big team.

"That's disappointing and I think there's a mentality starting to creep in that they think they are better than what they are. I'm going to make sure they know who they are and what we are and I'll give myself a bit of time to breathe as well because I feel really, really disappointed. I'm gutted to be honest.

"When you look back at the goals, they're so poor on our behalf and I’m not going to sugarcoat it or hide behind anything. What we do now is look ahead to what will be a tough week on the training pitch because no one likes losing, especially in the manner that we did, but you have to get yourself back on the pitch and put it right.”

And Nolan is also warning his players that they will suffer a similar fate if they do not lift their standards when they return to league action this weekend.

"Mansfield will be the same,” he added. “They'll be very competitive and they'll run all day and they'll work hard so we have to earn the right to play. We didn't do any of that against Oldham. When we did, we got a bit of success.

"I'm very unhappy with a lot of it and I'm so disappointed we're not in the next round but credit to Oldham, they ran harder and they made better decisions and they got what they deserved and we got what we deserved.”