Keith Curle has revealed what he expects from his players following the 2-2 draw against Oldham at the weekend.
The former Carlisle boss saw his side relinquish a two-goal lead in the dying moments at Boundary Park which saw the Cobblers throw away what looked like being a comfortable victory.
The former defender was frustrated with his players after the game revealing how he expects them to play going forward.
“The message we’re trying to convey to the players is that, when you get a goal, work harder, get closer, tackle harder,” Curle said.
“And then when you get a second goal, step it up again because it means you’re getting on top of somebody but you also need to be respectful and you need to do more.
“Oldham threw caution to the wind and left five or six people forward so you have to make sure you hurt teams when you retain possession or when you’re breaking.
“You’ve got to be prepared to recycle the ball. If you don’t, they can get a mistimed header and a ricochet and it can cost you.
“We’ve got to stop them putting balls forward with quality and it was too easy for Oldham to put the ball forward for their first goal.”
The Northampton boss admitted he is demanding and expects his players to learn from the final 10 minutes of the game at the weekend.
“It’s the demands we put on people,” he added. “If somebody doesn’t make the right pass, doesn’t make the right decision, doesn’t make the run, doesn’t do what’s required, then they’ve got to be told on the pitch.
“What you find is if that you get told and you have two, three, four people telling you, the next time you get it you make the right decision and that’s what we need to spread and I think it is spreading and it is working.”