Curle insists Cobblers will be fully focused for final two fixtures

Town are marooned in 15th place in Sky Bet League Two ahead of Saturday’s last home game, when Yeovil Town visit, before they round out their campaign at fellow mid-table dwellers Oldham Athletic, though the Latics could still make the play-offs.

“Our mental approach and our application, from the staff, won’t change for the final two games,” Curle insisted. “Everything will be done right.

“The players won’t expect to be short-changed in their wages at the end of the month so likewise we won’t be expecting players to down tools.

“We don’t expect any less attitude and application - everything will be in place for the two games.”

Cobblers had little riding on Easter Monday’s game at Bury but they still produced a good performance at Gigg Lane, pushing the promotion-chasing Shakers all the way in a 3-1 defeat.

“The level of performance was acceptable,” Curle added. “If you look at their wage bill and the quality of their players, it was going to be a difficult afternoon for us and we needed to be up for it and for the large part, we were very competitive.

“Without a few lapses of concentration, a few errors of judgement and an unfortunate miss, it could have been a different story.

“The levels of the performance in some departments were acceptable but there still needs to be improvement in other areas going forward.

“We tried to get the goal, created the best chance at 2-1 and then the third goal makes it look an easier afternoon for Bury but the people who saw the contest would have seen a good, competitive match.

“They had better ball retention than ourselves and slightly better quality but they pay the wages that can attract those sort of players.”