Brady explains why a week off is so valuable for the Cobblers

First free week for Brady since he replaced Keith Curle over a month ago
Jon Brady.Jon Brady.
Jon Brady.

Jon Brady will use a rare week without a Tuesday fixture to lay down some principles on the training ground whilst also ensuring his players are fully rested, both mentally and physically, ahead of the final 11 games of the season.

This week is the first without a Tuesday match since Brady replaced Keith Curle as Cobblers manager five weeks ago.

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Brady's team have been organised and disciplined in recent games against Doncaster and Charlton but have lacked a spark in attack and that's something they will be working on this week.

"It's good to have a free week and it's given us the opportunity to get some principles on board," said Brady. "The thing is with Tuesday matches, you can't do much work on the Thursday.

"You can do a bit but not much because you need to see which players have got knocks and things like that, so I think we can go into this Thursday being able to do more in terms of our principles and what we want from the players.

"We look very organised out of possession at the moment but we know we can be better in possession and we're trying to find that balance between both aspects of the game.

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"When you play game after game, you can't get everyone out there on the training pitch and sometimes errors can be compounded, but the one thing I would say about this group is that they have been hugely receptive.

"They have really taken on-board what has been asked of it and they've delivered and they are the ones who are making positive change at the moment, especially having taken four points from play-off sides in the last week.

"We went to Doncaster, who have the second-best home record in the league, and kept a clean sheet which feels very positive and it's down to the hard work of the players and the organisation that we've implemented in the last couple of weeks."

Whilst this week will allow Town's players to shake off any niggles and ensure they are match ready for Crewe's visit, it also presents them with an opportunity to mentally reset.

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Brady added: "It's important to mentally switch off as well because there is pressure to get results and that might weigh heavy on different players, but all we're trying to do is free them up and get them to play with no pressure at all.

"Some feel it, some might not but they all know how important it is to maintain our League One status and they're all working very hard."