The Cobblers were beaten 2-0 by Reading at Sixfields to slip to 23rd in League One.

Elliott List missed a golden chance to give Northampton a first-half lead before the hosts were sunk by quickfire goals from Jack Marriott and Will Keane early in the second period.

“It’s a very tough one to take, especially with the chances we created,” said Nolan. “That’s what I’ve said to the players – when you create chances like that, you have to take them.

“You can’t always go on about the goals you’re conceding, sometimes you have to take the pressure off by putting the ball in the net at key moments and we had some key moments in the first half.

“There was the goalmouth scramble where we’ve hit the post and then obviously Listy went through on goal after a nice bit of skill and I expect my strikers to score in that situation.

“The goalkeeper pulled off a great save, credit to him, and then to lose the goal in the manner we did was poor and that put us on the back foot for a bit.

“We controlled the game after that and we created more good opportunities, and there were some clear chances, but we just can’t put them away at the moment.

“All we can do is keep believing and keep going and believe that it will turn.”

Reading have lost just one of their last nine games and sit 10th in the table.

Royals manager Leam Richardson said: “I’m pleased with the result and I’m pleased with a lot of aspects of the performance.

“We’re coming to a ground where you have to do the fundamentals really well and credit to the players because they did that.

“I’ve played against Kevin’s teams before, he’s a very good coach, and they want to throw the ball in your box and they have a really solid way of playing.

“I thought we controlled large parts of the first half but I wanted to be a bit cleaner.

“They probably had the best chance of the first half but I felt if we kept our good habits and stayed true to ourselves, we would cause them problems and we did that in the second half.

“Joel’s save is as good as a goal and it’s a massive moment in the game and I thought he was excellent, as were all of the lads at the back.

“We just needed more energy and sharpness to create chances, that was the message at half-time, and I felt we got the result that we deserved in the end.”