Opposition view: Boss Brown 'cannot justify' Colchester's 'criminal' defending in defeat to Cobblers

Colchester United interim manager Wayne Brown 'could not justify' some of his side's 'criminal' defending during their 3-0 defeat to Northampton on Saturday.

Brown was generally pleased with Colchester's overall performance at Sixfields and felt the final scoreline was harsh, but he hit out at his defenders, particularly for how they failed to keep out Fraser Horsfall's opener.

Horsfall's header was the difference in a tight first-half before goals from Sam Hoskins and Benny Ashley-Seal wrapped up an ultimately comfortable home victory.

"Is it a 3-0 game? It is on paper but probably not on the balance of play," said Brown. "Believe it or not but in the first-half I thought we were the better team.

"They had to tweak their system because we were on the front foot but as well as we imposed our game onto them, the bottom line is that the game is won and lost in each box.

"There were two free headers for them from set-pieces in the first-half, one they score from and another is cleared off the line, and that's criminal.

"You cannot justify that in any league at any league in any country. You can't give teams free headers in your own box.

"We found ourselves 1-0 down in a game where there was nothing in it, if anything we were on the front foot and probably had more shots than them in the first half.

"But the reality is we have to be better in both boxes because we lacked penetration and confidence and we were not ruthless when we got into their penalty area.

"Being 1-0 down at Northampton at half-time is tough so you have to stay in the game but we come out in the second-half and concede really early and then it's a mountain to climb.

"The lads showed great reaction and we still had belief. We made positive substitutions to try and get another goal, we hit the post and their goalkeeper has made a great save.

"Again, you look at the balance of play and it's probably more in their half, so I don't have any real issues in the way we approached the game.

"But the bottom line is that we were poor defensively and there were too many players off their game.

"It doesn't matter who you are playing, regardless of it being Northampton, if you give teams free headers they will always be a threat. It's not acceptable and I've made that clear to them."