Curle to focus on the basics after Northampton squander two-goal lead

Posted Sunday, February 16, 2020 by PA

Northampton boss Keith Curle says his Cobblers must get back to basics after they dropped out of the Sky Bet League Two play-off places by letting a two-goal lead slip in a 3-2 defeat at Walsall.

Striker Callum Morton, on loan from West Brom, netted a first-half double to put the visitors firmly in control.

But Morton missed several second-half chances and Josh Gordon’s header sparked a Walsall revival as Danny Guthrie equalised from a free-kick and Rory Holden won it in stoppage time.

“In the second half there was poor decision-making and not enough hunger and desire to defend our box, which is something we’ve been very good at,” said Curle.

“In the first half we had good passages of play and caused them problems. Even in the second half we had three good chances and if we take those it’s a different story.

“But then you need to have that horrible side to your team and defend balls into your box properly. It was about doing the basics and we didn’t do it. If we had, we win that game 2-0 minimum.

“The swirling wind in the second half, we didn’t come to terms with it.

“We’ve lost three games at the wrong time of the season, but there are still a lot of games to go. We need to get back to what made us climb the table, which was doing the horrible things very well.”

Walsall boss Darrell Clarke, meanwhile, was delighted with the contribution of his three substitutes – goalscorers Guthrie and Holden, plus Wes McDonald who set up the winner.

“Sometimes you get your team selections right and sometimes you get them wrong, but you’ve got to be brave then as a manager to change things when you feel it’s necessary,” said Clarke.

“Credit to the lads that came on and turned it around in the second half. What I demand from my teams is that character, that never-say-die attitude and they have shown it in abundance there.

“If you are going to be successful, you have to come back in games throughout the course of the season, whether that is to win a game like today or to draw.”

The win moved Walsall within nine points of the top seven and Clarke is not discounting a late play-off push.

“The reason we’re not in the top seven is our home form,” he added. “We’re sixth in the table on away form – put another seven or eight points on our home form, we’d have been right in the mix.

“But we can only do what we are going to try to do now – build on this and win another home game next Saturday. You never know – the Clarke steam train sometimes goes!”