Brady admits this has been his 'toughest period' in charge of the Cobblers

Cobblers boss Jon Brady admits the last few weeks have been the ‘toughest period’ of his time in charge of the club.

Cobblers are six without a win in all competitions and were hammered 4-0 by Derby County last Tuesday before being dumped out of the FA Cup by League Two Barrow on Saturday.

Pressure is building on Brady and his players to turn things around ahead of a vital game against Burton Albion at Sixfields on Saturday.

"We have always said we don't get too high with the highs or too low with the lows and that's being put to the test at the moment,” said Brady.

"I would say, throughout the two and a half years we've been here, this is our toughest period, but it was only two weeks ago when we put in an excellent performance against Orient and nearly won the game with 10 men.

"We worked so hard that night and I think we've lost that energy and that spark in the last two games and that's something we have always had in our time here. We just need to get back to those levels and there are many things we can do to try and do that.

"The constraints we've had and the injuries we've taken have made it tough and we knew we could potentially go through a difficult period. We hoped players would step up and we work with players to step up but I feel over the next week or two we'll get most of the group back.

"We've had blips in the past and there have been bumps in the road but we have always been able to bounce back.”