Jon Brady said he was hurt and disappointed as he looked back on Saturday's defeat to Blackpool, a result that means the Cobblers will be playing in Sky Bet League 2 next season.
He also talked about the importance of doing well at Sunderland on Sunday, to send a message out that Northampton Town will never lie down.
"It was never going to be easy either this season or on Saturday and at the weekend losing Joseph Mills didn't help," he said.
"Millsy injured his calf against Gillingham and probably shouldn't have played against Blackpool but he was desperate to do his bit as skipper and these boys have put their bodies on the line to help the cause.
"We felt we could have had a penalty in the first half at 0-0 that wasn't given but overall I felt we were in the game at half time.
"We went for it in the second half but we are not going to sit on a 1-0 and not go for it in the position we were in. We had to go for it but we left ourselves open and we had to gamble. Teams at this level have quality and the risk was they would pick us off and they did.
"We haven't been good enough in certain areas of the pitch over the course of the season. Looking ahead, we need to decide what's best for the football club and what is the best way to move forward. We have fallen short this season but we need to move forward and look to bounce back as soon as possible.
"We might have fallen short this season but it is not through lack of effort or commitment. We have not been good enough and we should have been better in key areas on the field.
"I enjoy representing this football club and I am hurt by what has happened. For me, the hurt is there because I just want this club to do well and to come back next season as strong as possible and to build a squad as strong as possible to get back to League 1 as quickly as possible.
"For me it is very personal and it means so much. We have thrown so much at it and it will take a while to get over the disappointment but you have to pick yourself up and fight back. Our first challenge is to go to Sunderland and to put a marker down for next season to say this club never lies down."