Cobblers boss Aidy Boothroyd knows his side must improve their away form if his team are to beat Bradford City after the teams shared the honours in their FA Cup first-round tie at Sixfields.
Louis Moult scored for the second week running to cancel out Will Atkinson’s first-half goal in a low-key contest watched by a crowd of just more than 2,500.
The result means the teams will go again at Valley Parade a week on Tuesday, a fixture which will be the third away game on the bounce, following trips to York City and Accrington in the next seven days.
Boothroyd is well aware his team must improve their away performances – they have only won once on their travels in the league this season, at Dagenham & Redbridge – if they are to stand any chance against a Bradford side who remain in all three cup competitions.
“I’m glad we’re still in the FA cup, it’s important for the club, but obviously I’d rather have got through at the first attempt,” said the Cobblers boss. “We live to fight another day but our away form hasn’t been very good so we’ll have to improve on that.
“We’ve got a lot of good things going for us but it’s not quite happening for us at the moment. “It was a fair result and a game of two halves, we were poor in the first half and we didn’t do anything to get our supporters going. “I changed the formation because in the first half we were playing at the back and not from the back.
“We didn’t play through the midfield or get down the flanks and pose enough of a theat. “We were much more incisive in the second half and worked hard to try and score rather just trying to keep the ball.
“We got balls into the box and had a few chances but Matt Duke was in inspired form, just like he was when he was on-loan here.” Boothroyd was again full of praise for youngster Moult who came into the starting line-up following last week’s season-ending injury to top scorer Alex Nicholls. He added: “That’s two goals in as many games for Louis (Moult) - now he needs to make it three in three - if selected. “But he shoots when he gets his chance to and that sometimes catches teams out. He hits the target more often than not and the more games he plays the better he’s going to get.”
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