Colin Calderwood feels he can keep Northampton in League One despite Burton loss

Northampton interim manager Colin Calderwood still believes he can keep the club in League One despite another defeat on Saturday.

The Cobblers are now six points from safety after their first game without Kevin Nolan ended in a 2-0 home loss to Burton.

Jake Beesley gave the visitors a first-half lead at Sixfields before Kyran Lofthouse wrapped up the points late on.

“I thought we were a bit frantic and a bit nervous,” said Calderwood.

“We needed to be slightly more aggressive in the second half but the lads are obviously lacking a little bit of self-belief and confidence and going behind doesn’t help that.

“They have absolutely tried their hearts out and they’ve given everything. They ran themselves into the ground as much as anyone would expect but Burton deserved to win the game, let’s be fair.

“They played very well in the second half in terms of how they controlled it and their game management. They worked the clock and they played in good areas.

“We huffed and puffed a little bit but we never really got momentum to win a couple of corners and create a half chance or two, and our goal threat petered away in the second half.

“We have to find more oomph and scoring the first goal would help – but we have to help ourselves.

“We have to block out the noise and find some sort of inspiration to try and chase down the teams above us.”

With teams below them winning, the victory was important for Burton to maintain a five-point gap over the relegation zone.

“Three points is three points but it’s obviously a big win in the context of the situation,” said Brewers boss Gary Bowyer.

“We spoke in the build-up about the emotion of Kevin Nolan leaving and the bounce you can get from a new manager coming in.

“I knew Colin would have had them ultra-organised, which they were, but I thought it was a bit of a strange game, to be honest.

“We had the wind in the first half and then the wind went but I didn’t think we utilised it as well as we could have done before half-time.

“I’m delighted for Jake because he worked extra hard in the week and he got his reward, and the only disappointing thing was that we didn’t get the second goal earlier.

“They brought the big man on in the second half and you expect them to go more direct but I thought we were terrific at the back.

“To go away from home and score two goals, and keep a clean sheet, is really good, but now we want to keep climbing and keep looking up.”