Brady: Cobblers must be better on the ball and improve in attack to break down miserly Wimbledon

Cobblers will need to demonstrate an improvement on the ball and more creativity in attack if they are to break down a miserly AFC Wimbledon side at Sixfields this evening following two disjointed performances in a row.

Town struggled to create many clear chances against Walsall and Rochdale, both of whom put men behind the ball, and a similar challenge awaits tonight. Dons have conceded just one goal across their last five matches and that came away to leaders Leyton Orient. Three of those games have ended goalless, including against Carlisle United on Saturday.

"We have to do the basics first and foremost and we have to be better with the ball to unlock teams,” said manager Jon Brady. “We have been the top scorers for a long time and now we're second top scorers but it's not a given.

"We have to work hard to create goals in this league because teams will set up well to stop you. You look at Wimbledon and their clean sheet record in the last few weeks – it's fantastic.

"They are a tough team to break down. Teams will sit in a bit of a block and Wimbledon are good at that. They have have a strong, solid shape and I suspect they will come and try and put a bit of a mid-block on us and make it tough for us to break them down.

"Their record recently shows they are very good at that but we have to be clever and bright and we know what we need to do and the players need to be connected to unlock the opposition."

On the keys to breaking down an organised defence, Brady added: "There are several ways of disrupting defence. You have to make sure you move the ball a lot quicker and sharper and commit players in the final third and break lines.

"There are certain ways to do that and sometimes taking that extra pass is a better option than just slinging it into the box. We work on that and we probably have had to work on that more than ever this season because there's a different level of respect that we're getting, especially at home.”