Simpson believes Carlisle can learn from Cobblers after 'throwing it away' at Sixfields

Carlisle boss Paul Simpson believes his players can learn from the Cobblers after they ‘threw away’ Tuesday’s League Two clash at Sixfields.

Jack Armer gave United a 1-0 lead shortly after half-time but an error-ridden three-minute spell proved costly for the visitors as Sam Sherring and Louis Appéré flipped the game on its head.

Cobblers held on for a 2-1 victory to go seven points clear of fourth and a further two clear of Carlisle.

"We have thrown that game away and that's the disappointing thing because we had an opportunity to climb the table tonight and we have let it slip,” lamented Simpson.

"I'm not taking anything away from Northampton because they are a good side. They are in that league position for a reason and that's because they keep asking questions and they've got legs and they've got players who cause problems.

"We dealt with a lot of stuff and we got ourselves in a good position but we didn't finish it off and we weren't strong enough and individual mistakes have cost us.

"We said at half-time, the team who does the basics better will come out on top and it was about who was going to make mistakes and unfortunately we made too many.

"Their first goal, everyone has a role to play and if the ball goes over the man at the near post, he has to get back on the post. If he does that, we clear the ball, but he didn't do it.

"We gave the ball away for the second goal and it's a mistake. It's a clear mistake and it shouldn't happen so there's no real frustration.

"You can't have spells like that. You look at the teams at the top of the league – Orient, Stevenage, Northampton – and they are consistently asking questions and they do things consistently well.

"Maybe they have a bit more nous which we don't have at the moment and we might need to improve on that but I think it was a game that we threw away.

"Tonight was about the team who made the fewest mistakes and sadly we made a few more than they did.”