By Chris Slavin
Neil Cox said that there has been an “excellent” reaction from the players after defeat at Oxford United and he is expecting them to show that at Northampton.
Speaking during an interview for iFollow, Neil said: “The lads are really looking forward to it. They know that they all have to roll their sleeves up because it will be a bit of a battle. Let’s hope that we get that little bit of luck on the day. We’ve worked hard all week and the players are determined to prove that last week was a one-off.
“We’ve had an excellent reaction. On Tuesday we put them through their paces with a double session and we watched DVDs of the game; we went through the mistakes and the good bits too. The staff are working 100 per cent. We are questioning ourselves and looking at different players in different positions. We are making sure that there is positivity around the place and also putting a smile on their faces. When you have a smile on your face, you perform better, and that is what we’ve tried to do this week.
“I am expecting a tight game on Saturday. They’ve had a disappointing result at home, but Jimmy (Hasselbaink) had done a good job for the first two or three games. It is going to be difficult. They are going to be well organised and they will probably get behind the ball. We are going to go there in a positive frame of mind and try to win the game. It’s about what we do and about us playing well. Apart from the Oxford game, we’ve played really well and created chances, but we’ve not taken them.”
Neil added that the staff have been working hard to get the team scoring again, ahead of the trip to Sixfields Stadium.
“Football is a pressurised job and we love being in this job,” said Neil. “We have to look forward to the next game. We conceded two goals on Saturday by getting more people up the pitch. It cost us really because we got picked off a bit. We have to look at that ourselves. We are trying to get more forward thinking players on the pitch, but defensively we have to switch on a bit more too. It’s not just about the forwards and everyone has to give that extra 10-15 per cent. If we do that, we will get the right result.”
The full update from Neil Cox and an interview with Callum Kennedy are on our iFollow channel.