'Players need to improve and quickly' - Curle 'massively' frustrated by below-par display

Manager Keith Curle says 'there's players in the changing room that need to improve and quickly' after Cobblers produced their worst performance of the season at Scunthorpe United on Saturday.
Keith Curle with David Kelly. Picture: Pete NortonKeith Curle with David Kelly. Picture: Pete Norton
Keith Curle with David Kelly. Picture: Pete Norton

Town are now four games without a win in Sky Bet League Two and have sunk to 18th place in the table, six points adrift of the top seven.

Saturday's display and defeat at Glanford Park was undoubtedly the lowest point of the season so far as the Cobblers were blown away inside 31 minutes and comprehensively beaten 3-0.

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Curle has previously praised the improved character and mentality of his squad, and when asked if that makes Saturday's defeat harder to take, he said. "Massively. There's a changing room that's developing and we got a slap in the face.

"But we need to learn from it and there's players in the changing room that need to improve and quickly.

"First of all, we need to get the players in and watch the video because it's not good enough. I've said to them that the easy thing to do is say 'unlucky'.

"You should be insulted if someone says to you that you were unlucky because you weren't unlucky, you just weren't good enough."

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Curle made four changes from his side's last league outing for the trip to Glanford Park but despite the return of captain Charlie Goode, his gameplan was thrown out of the window after just 14 minutes.

Lee Novak had already scored twice by that stage before Kevin van Veen added a third, and to compound a torrid afternoon, Vadaine Oliver saw red eight minutes into the second-half.

"Vadaine was given an opportunity to play up front, win his headers and be a target man, but I didn't think the supply to him was good," added Curle.

"The only real supply that he got was from Dai Cornell's kicks and he did his best but we had three headers in the box that didn't hit the target once and if you don't hit the target, you're never going to score."