Ian Sampson is confident Northampton will soon enjoy an upturn in fortunes soon after their 3-1 defear at Oxford left the Cobblers second bottom of League Two.
Alfie Potter fired the Us into a fourth-minute lead, but Leon McKenzie restored parity 12 minutes later. Josh Payne was on hand to restore the hosts' advantage on the stroke of half-time, before Tom Craddock rounded things off with a late penalty.
"The players gave me everything, no-one was slacking out there," he said.
"We kept grafting and I'm proud of them for doing that, and as I've told them, if they keep doing that, we'll turn it around. It's a poor result, obviously, but I thought the lads did okay. We had a lot of young players out there and a lot of players playing in positions they are not used to.
"After the early goal, we got back into it with a good header by Leon (McKenzie), who looked a threat all game, but it was a good free-kick to put them back in front. We dominated the second half but shot ourselves in the foot at the end."
Source: PA
Source: PA