A simple long throw allowed Fred Onyedinma to open the scoring early on and he was on target again in the 64th minute after Jon Guthrie had brought Northampton level.

“It’s obviously a tough one to take,” said Nolan, whose side are now in the League One relegation zone. “The goals we conceded were just schoolboy stuff.

“They are really, really poor and I can’t defend that. As much as I want to back up my team and defend the lads, it was just way too easy.

“Wycombe don’t train to score goals like that. We do. The goal we scored is something we have worked on – winning a corner, keeping the ball and delivering it back into the box and getting people across the box, so we’re having to work hard to score goals but we’re giving soft ones away.

“I’m really disappointed with the manner of the defeat because I think everyone felt it was going to be a draw all day long, but we’ve given them two goals and they’ve come at bad times.

“There was nothing really in the game. If anything we were probably in the ascendancy on both occasions, and then to lose the game in the way we have, it’s just so disappointing.

“But we can’t feel sorry for ourselves because we need to stand up and be counted.”

After recording just their second away win of the season, Wycombe are now ninth in League One.

“There was lots of guts and resilience in that one,” said Chairboys boss Michael Duff. “It’s a tough place to come because they make you make decisions and fight and scrap and the pitch is difficult.

“I thought we dealt with that in the main. Obviously the set-piece goal is a bit disappointing, but luckily we got away with it and it’s something we can learn from.

“We tweaked the shape at half-time and I thought we showed more composure in the second half.

“A lot has been made of our away record this season and the fact is we haven’t won enough on the road, but the camaraderie is really good and I said at half-time, these are the games that decide where you finish.

“The game was in the balance and both teams were right in it, but all the qualities you need to win away from home shone through.

“It’s hard to win a game of football and now we need to show that level of commitment every week.”