Austin praises 'fantastic' Cobblers display despite cup exit

Town matched their League One counterparts in the first-half but struggled after going behind to Randell Williams' header early in the second-half before Sam Hoskins forced penalties with a late equaliser.

But the visitors lost a lengthy shoot-out when Jordan Turnbull missed their eighth penalty and Adam El-Abd then stepped up to send the Chairboys through to round two.

Despite going out, however, Austin saw plenty of positive signs from his side.

He said: "It's never a nice way to go out but I think we need to be encouraged by the performance and the way the boys played tonight because I thought we were fantastic.

"There was a little spell in the second-half when we lost our way a bit but that's part of the learning process and I thought we were the better team.

"We passed the ball fantastically well and created chances and unfortunately we're lacking the rub of the green at the moment but that will turn if we keep playing in that manner."

Having been second best for most of the second-half, Cobblers battled to the end and rallied in the closing stages as Ash Taylor missed a penalty moments before Hoskins found the bottom corner to restore parity.

"I will never question the character of my boys because I know what I've got in the dressing room," added Austin.

"We had a little spell but you're going to have that in any game and we've got to learn to deal with that.

"I thought our intensity with which we moved the ball into areas and how we caused them problems was exceptionally tonight."