Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale will not be rushing into the transfer market to try and halt his side's poor run of form in League Two.
The Grecians sunk to their fourth defeat in five games on Saturday as they were beaten 2-0 at home to struggling Northampton Town.
They created chances early on, but after going behind to Marc Richards 20th-minute header they were second best and well beaten.
City do have money to spend in the January transfer window, after selling teenage star Matt Grimes for £1.75m to Swansea City, but Tisdale is wary of making a knee-jerk reaction especially as his side had been on such a good run of form prior to Christmas.
"You never know what is around the corner, but we are certainly not looking to go and buy lots and lots of players," he said. "I think we have got a lot of players who have made a lot of progress and developed as a good unit this season. I have to be careful that the last two or three weeks doesn't add onto my mind and I forget what we have done well. I have got to get the balance right. It is very easy to react to having some disappointing results and go and throw the baby out of the bath water. I certainly don't want to do that, but I have to be realistic and find a way to get us back on track."
Tisdale did admit that he would have plenty to contemplate over the next few days as he tries to rediscover his side's winning formula ahead of the trip to Mansfield Town next weekend.
"I think we are back into a situation now where things are up in the air and it is my job to put us back on track and talk about the things that will get us going in a straight line going forward," said the Exeter City manager.
"We have got some really serious work to do and I'm certainly not belittling the fact that we have had a really poor run of results. I'm very concerned about it but, on the other hand, I know that there was a lot of good we did leading up to that period. I have to make a decision in the next week of what changes I need to implement."
One of the main areas for concern for Tisdale was how his side responded to going a goal down. They conceded a second goal shortly after the first, which isn't the first time that has happened this season, and then failed to create any real response after going two goals behind.
Tisdale said: "They definitely scored against the run of play on 20 minutes and I was disappointed with the goal, but I was probably more disappointed about the way we played after that 20-minute spell. We never actually produced anything of note in response.
"It is also another time that we have conceded a second goal, shortly after the first, and it has happens too often. I have spoken about it, and we have mentioned it numerous times, but there is little I can do from the touchline when it happens."
Tisdale admitted the second goal, scored by John-Joe O'Toole on 27 minutes was soft. He also said that the recent poor run of form had been a shock to the system. However, City they have only dropped to 10th in the table and are just two points outside the play-offs. Therefore all is not lost.
"I know that is a really tough few weeks that we have had," said Tisdale. "It hasn't gone to plan and it is a shock to the system having done so well for a number of months but, although it has put really a spanner in the works, it has not finished our season. We have still got a lot to play for and we have got to recover ourselves and recover some rhythm in our team."
