Aaron McGowan given new role by Jon Brady for Cobblers' game against Mansfield

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Aaron McGowan and Luke Mbete were both given slightly different roles by Jon Brady for Cobblers’ League One game against Mansfield Town on Saturday.

The two full-backs drifted in-field and took up more central positions in possession, and they did so to good effect as Cobblers dominated the first half and regularly sliced through Mansfield to create – but miss – a number of presentable chances.

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Town’s good play ultimately went unrewarded on a frustrating day at Sixfields but McGowan felt the change of tactic was an effective one.

"Me and Luke had a different role today,” he said. “We worked on a few rotations with me and Luke getting into central midfield and getting on the half turn and I feel it worked.

Aaron McGowanAaron McGowan
Aaron McGowan

"Luke had a good game and I felt we pulled them all over the place. They got overloaded in certain areas and we pulled them out into positions they didn't want to be in and even if we didn't get the ball, that was creating space for Mitch (Pinnock) or Tariqe (Fosu).

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"Tactically, what we worked on during the week worked a treat and I think if we had been 3-0 or 4-0 up at half-time, it wouldn't have been undeserved. It's just unfortunate but it's about as positive as you can be after getting beat.”

Fellow defender Jack Baldwin was equally as positive, adding: "We want to play well and win, of course, but we know football is a results business and we need to make sure we aren't just putting in good performances and not getting anything for them.

"We are downhearted and frustrated with how the game finished up but once we go away and reflect on the performance and how we played, we'll be positive.

"We just need to cut out those silly mistakes and keep our concentration for 90 plus minutes. We will come away with plenty of points playing like that.”

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