Cobblers boss Keith Curle felt Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Hull City rested on two defining moments.
“The game was fairly even and in the end it came down to two defining moments, two free-kicks,” he said.
“We played against a decent team today but I felt we nullified their threats.
“Our final third entries were poor as was our pass selection but that will get better.
“Hull’s game management was good but even in the last ten minutes I felt if we could get a goal we could still get something from the game.
“Harry Smith and Joe Nuttall played longer today than I would have liked and Nicky Adams has only had one training session so we are easing players back gradually.
“I saw Luka Racic stretching his hamstring and that’s why I bought him off because I don’t want to lose another centre-back.”