After suffering their first defeat in nine games last weekend, Cobblers boss Keith Curle is looking for a reaction from his players ahead of this Saturday’s clash with Port Vale.
“The players didn’t like being beaten but identifying that feeling when you lose doesn’t make you a winner,” he said.
“We don’t like losing games and the work started straight away after the game at Cheltenham to try and rectify that.
“We needed to show more intent on Saturday and there is a big difference between needing to win a game and wanting to win. If you don’t do your job then it’s evident you won’t get the rewards.
“The goals we conceded at Cheltenham were all avoidable and right from kick-off we didn’t impose our authority on the game and we didn’t set the tone.
“That can happen at any level but the disappointment was we didn’t have the personality on the pitch to identify that and eradicate the silly errors for the goals.
“I’m very good at setting the bar and the levels we need to be at and on Saturday we didn’t reach those levels. The players know that and they are aware but we don’t dismantle the good work we have been doing.
“It’s a learning environment we are trying to create here and to do that we need to identify the areas where we can improve.
“We need a response on Saturday, Cheltenham has gone and now we move on.”