Sherring sees Saddlers loss as a chance for Cobblers to learn and improve

Young defender Sam Sherring says the Cobblers will use Tuesday’s defeat to Walsall, just their second loss of the season, as an opportunity to learn and improve.

Town were met by an aerial bombardment in the Midlands but they generally dealt with it well and would likely have taken something from the game if not for a poorly-defended, and incorrectly-awarded, free-kick shortly before half-time.

"We know this is a tough league,” said Sherring. “We had been on a good run of wins but results like this are going to happen.

"We have a lot of injuries and we have a young squad so sometimes there will be nights like this but now it’s about how we bounce back.

"I didn’t think we performed too badly. There are things to learn from and we will look back but it will help us get better as a team and hopefully we can go on another good run.

"It’s still been a decent start. Losing is part of football and you have to deal with it. You can’t get too high and you can’t get too low.

"That’s the way you have to be if you want to be successful. We are quite big on that as a squad so we keep rolling on and we keep learning.

"I think that – learning – the most important thing because we are a young squad and we are always looking to learn. We will do our analysis and be better for it.”

Whilst Sherring declined to use Cobblers’ absentees as an excuse for their subpar showing against Walsall, it certainly didn’t help them.

"I’m not sure if the injuries caught up with us,” he added. “I think we have a strong squad and we believe in everyone who plays.

"We were a bit unlucky. It was a tight game but we have had a good run and you will lose games in a season and you have to bounce back from it so all eyes are on Saturday.”

Walsall played with the aggression and intensity of a team desperate to end a poor run, and perhaps the chance to stop Town going top provided added motivation.

“You can’t go into any game not wanting to win,” continued Sherring. “Maybe we are a target for other teams but if you’re going to be near the top of the league, which is where we want to be, then you have to deal with that.

"We prepared the same as always. We were thorough in our preparation and analysis and we tried our best but it was just a tight game that could have gone either way.

"We will reflect on it and be stronger for it.”

Jon Brady and his coaches will do their analysis with the players when the dust settles but, in the immediate aftermath, it was obvious where Town came up short. Chiefly, their inability to turn possession into clear chances and shots on target.

"I think we went a bit too direct in the first-half,” admitted Sherring.

“We should have played a bit more because their two centre-halves are strong and physical and we played too long and that suited them.

"Maybe we could have switched it up a bit more but I thought we were much better in the second-half and that’s good learning and development for us. We definitely showed signs of progress.”