Sampson makes no excuses after Cobblers 'lack competitiveness' in Rotherham defeat

Jonson Clarke-Harris headed in a contentious opener after just three minutes and from then on the hosts were never in danger as Clarke-Harris’ second and a goal for Andre Green, which came just after half-time, inflicted a first defeat on Town since Jon Brady’s departure.

"It’s obviously not the result we came here for,” admitted Sampson, whose first game as caretaker boss saw Cobblers defeat rivals Peterborough on Monday. “It was a bit after the Lord Mayor's Show and it’s really disappointing.

"They had the initiative from the first few minutes. We can debate whether the goal was offside or not but it probably summed up how we played for the rest of the game because we didn’t compete in that moment.

"Our lack of competitiveness followed us throughout the match and we didn’t reach the level of their competitiveness and that’s cost us big time.

"Maybe there was a bit of a hangover, I didn’t think we had the same energy that we had on Monday but that’s no excuse. They were better than us.

"Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say they were the better team on the day with better players and that’s now a test for us going forward because we need to compete more.”