Cobblers boss Justin Edinburgh said he was pleased to see the players get more match minutes under their belts in Wednesday night’s pre-season friendly at AFC Rushden & Diamonds.
The trip to Hayden Road was the second match in successive days for the squad, and Edinburgh says that his main prority this midweek has been building the minutes for the players.
“In terms of the football performance it was disappointing but if we look beyond that we have managed to get some more minutes into the players that needed it,” he said.
“Credit to Rushden they really had the bit between their teeth and they really hustled and harried us.
“You never want to lose football matches but it’s important we look at the bigger picture.
“We left a couple of players out as a precaution, John Joe O'Toole was feeling a bit tight and Ash Taylor played the full 90 minutes on Tuesday so we looked after them a little bit.”