Watson admits 'words were exchanged' during heated changing room inquest after Oxford loss

Cobblers midfielder Ryan Watson admits 'a lot was said' during a heated changing room inquest following Tuesday night's heavy loss at Oxford United.

Town capitulated in the second-half at the Kassam Stadium as they conceded four times in 43 minutes to drop to 20th in Sky Bet League One, a point above the bottom four.

There was no sign of manager Keith Curle nor any of the players for nearly 90 minutes after the game as they dissected what went so horribly wrong behind closed doors.

“A lot was said in the changing room but it happens after every game, win, lose or draw,” said Watson. “There are always things to be said and always things to improve on and Tuesday was definitely one of those nights where there was a lot to improve on.

“There were a few words exchanged. That obviously stays between the lads but we’ve got to put it right and there’s no hiding place. I keep going back to it but it’s all about Saturday now.

"That’s our focus and that’s the good thing about football – the next game is always just around the corner. We’ve got a few days to prepare and owe the manager a performance.”

All eyes will now be on how the Cobblers respond against Lincoln City this weekend.

”We’ve got to bounce back,” Watson added. “It’s not going to be easy and the results aren’t just going to happen for us. We’ve got to work hard day in, day out, starting from the first day back in training.

“We will all look at ourselves and take responsibility and own the performance on Tuesday because it wasn’t good enough. We’re aware of that and we want to put it right.

"We’ve got to go into the next game and be ready to work hard for each other, for the manager, for the fans, everybody, because we owe them all a performance.

“It’ll be great to have the fans back again. We’ve all missed them. They do make a big difference and I think we’re all looking forward to seeing them and playing in front of them and hopefully putting in a performance.”