Jon Brady said the Cobblers fell below their standards as he reflected on Tuesday night’s 4-0 defeat at Derby County.
“Derby are an incredible team, they move the ball really well and our levels weren’t anywhere near where we needed them to be tonight,” he said.
“We had little spells here and there but if I’m honest we struggled to get near their goal.
“They are a high class team and unfortunately we were too far below our standards.
“The injury situation we are in is tough and in the end I tried to rotate things around with an eye on Saturday.
“We are in a tough run but we need to ride through it.
“I’m hoping to have Louis and Jack back for the weekend but it will be limited minutes and Jon Guthrie is probably still a couple more weeks away.”