Exeter City 'nowhere near good enough' in Northampton loss - Gary Caldwell

Exeter City have slipped from first to ninth place in League One in the past month

Exeter City boss Gary Caldwell says his side were "nowhere near good enough" in their 2-0 loss to Northampton Town.

Having beaten Premier League Luton Town in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, Exeter succumbed to a third league defeat in four matches.

Exeter - who led League One earlier in the month- slipped to ninth place after the loss at home to the Cobblers.

"We can't make any excuses, it was nowhere near good enough," Caldwell told BBC Radio Devon.

"I thought we were sloppy right from the first minute.

"We didn't play in the areas we wanted to play, we didn't pass the ball with any conviction, we didn't create options for the man in possession and then when we lost the ball we weren't good enough in the duals.

"We didn't pick enough second balls and every aspect of our game was nowhere near where we expect it to be.

"We have to be honest with ourselves with that, we can't hide behind that, we have to look at it and do something about it for Tuesday."

In their five League One games in September, Exeter scored just three goals as the sale of Sam Nombe to Rotherham United for £1m along with injuries to players including James Scott, Admiral Muskwe and Jack Aitchison appears to have hit the Grecians.

But Caldwell says there is no excuse for his side not being better in front of goal.

"We've got attacking players missing that give us a bigger goal threat, but the people that come into the team have to be ready to contribute," he added.

"Today we didn't show enough, not just in the final third, but in our build, how we played throughout the pitch.

"We didn't ever create opportunities, or enough opportunities, in the final third.

"We didn't get enough men in the scoring zone, it's something we work at regularly, so it's people that are here at the moment who need to step up to the plate with no excuses about the injuries."