Northampton Town boss admitted Peterborough United were so good his side were chasing shadows
Northampton Town caretaker-manager Ian Sampson admitted his side were ‘chasing shadows’ as they were beaten 3-0 by Peterborough United in a Vertu Trophy tie at the Weston Homes Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Cobblers somehow survived until half-time of a one-sided contest, but a red card for defender TJ Eyoma just before the break tipped the balance even further towards Posh who went on to win 3-0. The final shot count was an astonishing 31-3 in Posh’s favour as they gained some revenge for last week’s 2-1 defeat in a League One match at Sixfields.
Sampson, who made six changes to his starting line-up, said: “We set out with a plan to frustrate them. We didn’t want to go man-for-man like we did in the league match because I didn’t feel we had the personnel coming into the team to manage it.
"It’s difficult enough against Peterborough with 11 men so it obviously didn’t help when TJ got sent off and we were chasing shadows a bit in the second half. We tried to go 4-4-1 but they’re so good that they played around us easily."
Cobblers had strong claims for offside against Malik Mothersille, when he was fouled by Eyoma for the red card, and against Ricky-Jade Jones as he scored the opening goal.
But Sampson was sanguine in response, adding: “We seem to be on the wrong end of those at the minute, but I’m not one for criticising referees. They’re human beings and they make mistakes like players make mistakes and managers make mistakes. We have to get on with it. It probably cost us but that’s the way it is.”