Potter confident Cobblers will quickly bounce back from Pompey defeat

EYES ON THE PRIZE - Alfie Potter battles with Portsmouth's Kyle Bennett during Saturday's Sixfields clash

Town were hit with a damaging sucker-punch at Sixfields on Saturday, with Conor Chaplin’s 86th-minute finish on the counter-attack sealing a 2-1 victory for Pompey.

That meant the Cobblers’ stay at the top of the table was a very brief one, with Plymouth Argyle returning to the summit thanks to their win at Hartlepool United.

But Town are still second, level on points with the Devon outfit, three points clear of fourth-placed Portsmouth and nine points clear of eighth-placed Mansfield Town.

It’s a good place to be as the halfway point of the season approaches, and Potter believes there is more to come.

“We have been on a great run of form, and to be on the same number of points as Plymouth at the top means we are in a good position,” said the former Oxford United attacker.

“There is still a long way to go, there are loads of matches to play and there will be lots of twists and turns.

“We will lose games along the way, but as long as we are up there at the end of the season that is the main thing.

“With the group of players we have, and with what we have shown already in the first half of the season, I think we can kick on and hopefully stay up there.”

The Cobblers travel to York City on Boxing Day, and Potter says it is vital the players quickly put the Pompey defeat behind them.

“It wasn’t a nice feeling because you don’t want to lose any game of football, but you going to lose games in this league, and we lost against a good side on Saturday,” said Potter.

“On the balance of play I don’t think we deserved to lose, a draw would have been a fair result, but we just need to make sure it doesn’t affect us and we pick ourselves back up and go again.

“Everyone was down afterwards, especially as they scored at a time when we looked like the team that was going to be nicking a winner.

“That made it that bit worse, especially conceding from our corner, and everybody was down about it, but we need to put it behind us.

“We are back in training today (Tues) and we have to make sure we go and put it right on Boxing Day.”