Boss Brady grateful to have some respite in 'relentless' schedule

Jon Brady admits he is relieved to have some respite in Cobblers’ ‘relentless’ schedule ahead of Saturday’s game at Carlisle United

Town have played on four of the last five Tuesdays and are due in midweek action again next week when they make the trip to Stevenage.

But there was no Tuesday fixture this week and that allowed Brady to put in some extra work on the training pitch.

”When you go Saturday to Tuesday, especially when you do it back-to-back, it can be tough,” said the Town boss.

“For some teams you need to change tactics and you might need to implement certain things and to do that in the time you have is quite difficult.

“It has been really nice this week to take a step back and give the players a little bit of extra rest because we have played so many games in the last month or so.

“What’s good is that you can do a bit more individual stuff with players and that’s been nice and you can also give be a bit more detail and feel more organised for the following game on the Saturday.”

And as we come towards the final stages of the season, this week has also been a chance to rest aching bodies.

Louis Appere and Jack Sowerby have recently returned from injury and Chanka Zimba was on the bench against Tranmere after six weeks out, but Josh Eppiah is back in the treatment room.

Brady added: “We had to take players off to manage their minutes properly against Tranmere on Saturday but we got through and there were no more injury concerns, which is really good for us.

“Josh has been very unlucky. We hope to have him back in the next two weeks.

“He’s working very hard. I saw him on Tuesday and he said his calf is feeling a lot better so fingers crossed.”

Cobblers officially celebrated their 125th birthday on Wednesday and the occasion was marked with a series of special events at Sixfields on Saturday.

The team played in a commemorative chocolate and blue kit, a bumper programme was produced and a number of former players were introduced to the 7,000 plus crowd at half-time.

“So many people work so hard for our football club and they helped make it a really special day,” said Brady.

“It’s not just about us on the pitch, we wanted to show how together we are as a club and all the work we do within the community.

“I thought it was a really good day and I was so pleased to get the win for all the people that do so much work and for all our fans as well.”