New Northampton manager Kevin Nolan admitted that his side looked at times like “rabbits in headlights” in their miserable 4-1 defeat at League One promotion-chasers Reading.
In Nolan’s first game in charge, Reading poached a 2-0 half-time lead through goals from Harvey Knibbs and Sam Smith.
Charlie Savage made it 3-0 after the break and although Tom Eaves reduced the deficit for Town, Mamadi Camara struck late on to seal Reading’s win.
Nolan, the former West Ham first-team coach, said: “When we were on the ball, we looked a little like rabbits in headlights.
“We should have been a lot calmer when we’d turned the ball over, instead of handing it straight back to Reading.
“At times, we made some very strange decisions. When we got into good positions, we didn’t hurt them like we should have.
“I’m obviously disappointed, we knew that it wasn’t going to be easy. It’s been a whirlwind sort of 72 hours.
“And, of course, it’s slap-bang in the middle of Christmas, which makes it a bit more difficult for everybody. But I knew that it wasn’t going to be plain sailing.
“We’ve been trying to put a little bit into the boys in the last 24 to 48 hours and there’s been a bit of an improvement in that.
“But I wasn’t too happy in the manner of the goals that we conceded and I spoke to them afterwards about that.
“We’ve got to simply get better. We’ve got be winning more of the second balls. Some of the time Reading looked a lot hungrier.”
Reading moved back into the play-off spots in sixth place with new manager Noel Hunt’s first win at the fifth attempt – on his 42nd birthday.
“That was a terrific day, the boys were outstanding,” Hunt said. “They had the right mindset from minute one.
“They wanted to be on the front foot, they wanted to be in the Northampton half. They were really clear in what they were trying to achieve.
“I was a bit disappointed about their goal, I really wanted to keep a clean sheet, but on the whole I was very pleased.
“I told the lads that they just had to keep it going in the second half, to keep doing the right things.
“Maybe there were a few moments when we got a little, not complacent, but we thought that we were comfortable.
“Maybe we should have got another goal earlier in the half, which would have been perfect for us, but I thought that overall we were outstanding.
“I didn’t really want to make much of my birthday, none of the lads knew anything about it until after the game when it came up on the big screen.
“I just wanted it to be about them and that first win.”
