The Cobblers went down 1-0 at Stadium MK in disappointing fashion in front of a 3,000-strong travelling support, and Gray apologised to those who had made the short trip down the M1 to see the Cobblers humbled by newly-promoted Dons.

And he says changes will be made for the visit of the Lions after seeing a lack of effort from his side.

"Our ball retention was poor and our quality of play from back to front was poor," said an angry Gray.

"At the end of the day after the performance we put in against Millwall, we probably had four or five missing today, and we need at least nine or 10 at it, we can't afford to be carrying anybody.

"There are one or two who are disappointed with their performance, but the most important thing is that we try and put it right on the training ground with a view to next Saturday.

"The be-all and end-all is that the 11 that started have the shirt and have got to keep hold of the shirt.

"But I don't think anybody can come and knock on my door if they are left out of the team after that."

And the manager had a sympathetic word for the Town supporters, who were left with little to shout about.

"I've been involved in a lot of games like this and the most important thing is the result," he added.

"I think the supporters would have been happy if we had got a 0-0 or even a 1-0 win. The only thing I can do is apologise to the supporters because we have not got the result we wanted.

"We are a little bit disappointed, and we have got to wait a long time before we can play them back at Sixfields.

"The disappointing thing is the effort and commitment we showed against Cheltenham and Millwall wasn't there.

"And that is what I am saying, we can't afford to carry four or five players, they have all got to be at it."