Brady assesses the performances of his midfield debutants and on target striker

Jon Brady says supporters got a taste of what Ben Fox and Marc Leonard will bring to the Cobblers with their second-half performances during Tuesday’s Carabao Cup tie against Wycombe Wanderers.

Both men were making their first starts for the club after joining earlier in the summer and after a frustrating first-half in which Town too often bypassed their midfield, they started to get on the ball and make things happen.

Leonard, who is on loan from Brighton, brought a creative spark in a more advanced role after the break, setting up a couple of decent chances, while Fox showed his ability both on and off the ball.

"I thought both of them really grew into the game,” said Brady. “There was real intensity from Wycombe in the first-half and players who have just come into the team are not always going to hit the ground running.

"It's not a full first-team group so those two had to really grab the game by the scruff of the neck and it's hard for a midfielder when possession is turned over so quickly as it was in the first-half. It was going up, then it was coming back.

"It was hard to get control but we talked about a couple of things at half-time and I saw a real difference from those two in the second-half because they took the initiative to get control.

"It takes a while to bed in and understand your team-mates and the people around you. Marc really grew into the game and so did Foxy but he (Fox) is just coming back from a hamstring injury and that was his first full 90 so you have to cut him some slack.”

Striker Louis Appéré, who scored a second-half penalty, also showed signs of his sharpness returning.

"Louis was always going to take the penalty,” Brady added. “Sam (Hoskins) wasn’t there and he said he wanted to be on penalties and I’m really pleased for him that he put it away.

"As we know from last season, he’s full of energy and work-rate and effort and he has the quality as well and he showed that tonight but there’s definitely much more to come from him.”