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SAMPSON PRAISES EFFORTS OF PLAYERS

Posted on: Mon 01 Feb 2010

Ian Sampson praised the resilience of his side after the Cobblers drew 1-1 with Burton Albion at Sixfields on Saturday.

"The first half was very scrappy and disjointed but when we got the ball down and played in the last half an hour we looked a decent team," he said.

"We didn't really have a physical presence up front in the first half and we wanted to change things around at half-time. Stephen O'Flynn came on and gave us that physical presence and in the last half an hour that worked for us.

"We had quite a few chances towards the end of the game and we maybe could have even nicked the win. We hit the woodwork three times and even in the first half we had a couple of good chances where we didn't hit the target.

"I want us to get the ball down and play and when we did that in the last half an hour we looked a good team.

"In the first half we played too many long balls and that's not how I want us to play. I want my players to be brave on the ball and Kevin Thornton was that when he came on. He likes to get the ball down and play and I think if we can get him fitter he will prove to be a good acquisition to the squad.

"In the last two games we haven't played particularly well but we've picked up four points and if we can keep that going in the latter part of the season then we will be in with a good chance of progressing.

"Courtney Herbert didn't get the best of service in the first half but he is still a work in progress and we will keep working with him.

"In previous games we have started brightly but we were maybe suffering from a little bit of fatigue and full credit to Burton as well, they worked really hard and they are a decent team.

"We've played four games in ten days and I've got a lot of tired players at the moment. I'm quite pleased we've got a free midweek coming up and it is important that we get the players well rested and ready for the game at Dagenham.

"Bayo has got a bit of a calf strain and we just thought that this was one game too far for him. We wanted to give him a full week to recover and hopefully he should be back for the game next Saturday."