There are those in the world of lower-league football who would have you believe an early exit from this competition is no bad thing.

A low gate of just over 2,000 suggests the Northampton public agree with such a view.

But with only one League point being put on the board in the past three outings, a win against someone – anyone – is badly required to get the
ship on a even keel.

For rookie keeper Chris Dunn this really was a game to forget. Kevin McLeod's swirling shot beat him for the game's only goal in what has to go down as a mistake by the youngster.

Which was a shame as he'd actually been playing pretty well until that point.

Everyone connected with the club must hope that the incident does not destroy the young man but make him stronger.

It will certainly prove a painful experience. But possibly a necessary one – if he is to be a top professional player such 'mistakes' need to be hammered out at this early stage.

Abdul Osman bore the main brunt of Stuart Gray's ire in the wake of the Tranmere defeat, losing his place in midfield to youngster Alex Dyer.

Bayo Akinfenwa was also kept out of the firing line with the manager opting to give his main striker a full two weeks' rest ahead of the next game, against Peterborough on September 13.

Genuine chances were few and far between in a low-key first half.

The Cobblers carved out a decent one four minutes into the second half when Giles Coke slid in to win the ball and Colin Larkin set Leon
Constantine free, only for the striker to be denied by the linesman's flag.

At the other end Dunn showed his shot-stopping skills to make a full-length dive to keep out Matt Richards' free-kick and from the resulting corner Constantine headed Forster's effort off the line.

Dunn's night took a turn for the worse on 68 minutes when a McLeod shot with plenty of whip and no shortage of mid-air movement completed deceived him and flew into the net.

Brighton fans were quick to give their verdict on how the keeper had dealt with it, and about the best you can say is that the flight simply must have deceived the youngster.

With the injury situation at the club a dire one, this small squad will need every minute of the 10-day break before their next game after what has been a hectic start to the campaign.

Gray, too, will appreciate the extra hours on the training ground to drill some consistency into a group of players who outclassed Bolton Wanderers but continue to look second best against teams from their own league.