Dowie On Northampton

"I was disappointed with the way the game ended but on the whole, I was very pleased. We won't let that deflect from what was a very good display. "The lads have come in great shape and I think they deserve an awful lot of credit for what they've done. There's a lot of hard work to be done but the players are doing it and they're doing it with great zest and gusto.

"We've managed to get the ball wide and we've got good delivery. We're passing the ball slickly. We worked on our rotation and movement this week and I think that showed. We can take lots of positives from the matches we have played so far and the lads are looking very sharp. I think this was a much better performance than the one against Shrewsbury. "Everyone is really looking forward to Northern Ireland and although the training camp will be hard, everyone wants to play. With the more games we have, our work is becoming more football-orientated and we're getting there."

On the decision to send off skipper Elliott Ward, Dowie said: "I just think it is non-sensical but the referee said it was being videoed or something which is why he had to send him off. If it happened to one of their players, I wouldn't want him sent off. It doesn't matter to me whether we get a penalty or not. It's a friendly game and this league is hard enough without losing people. It's not as if he's done a deliberately bad tackle where he has to be sent off, it was nothing. He could have awarded them the goal or done anything he wanted to but instead, he has sent him off. In the spirit of a friendly, you shouldn't do that so we'll see what happens from here."