Opposition view: Crawley manager laments 'poor goals' in defeat to Cobblers

The visitors did not heed their warning as they left two against one for Town’s first two corners, the second of which saw Tariqe Fosu hammer home, before another poorly-defended set-piece led to a Jay Williams own goal.

Mitch Pinnock finished sweetly to make it 3-0 nine minutes into the second half and that put an end to Crawley’s hopes of moving out of the League One relegation zone.

"When you give away two poor goals from set-pieces you put yourself on the back foot,” said Elliott. “We had a warning for the first one but we do the same again for the second corner and the lad finishes it.

"That changes the whole landscape of the game because it allows them to counter-attack, which they did well, and when we did get control, we weren't able to make more of our chances.

"Goals change games and we need to tighten up in terms of our organisation and our setup because we did it so well on Tuesday but we haven't followed it up in a game that I felt was a good opportunity for us.

"It's really disappointing and when you're chasing the game you leave yourselves open. We still carried a threat but there wasn't enough in the final third to work their goalkeeper.

"I don't know if there were some nerves or a bit of apprehension but I'm not sure why that would be. It's important to reset this week and make sure we understand what we need to get better at."