Brady hails key individuals in impressive home win and questions Mansfield Town's 'brutal' tactics

All 14 players who featured for the Cobblers during Tuesday’s excellent win over Mansfield Town earned praise from manager Jon Brady afterwards, but for many, there was one clear standout.

Will Hondermarck had only shown his ability in flashes after arriving on a two-and-a-half-year deal January but, back to full fitness, and having been eased in by Brady, he produced a statement performance and dominated the midfield battle to down the Stags at Sixfields.

"It has taken Will a little bit of time to get up to speed after he joined us,” said Brady. “A lot of times this season we have had to build up players' minutes and and ease them in and that’s what we have done with Will.

"He obviously wanted to come in and play so it's been tough for him, but it's important to get the timing right and I thought he was very good tonight. He was excellent.

"There have been a few key points which we have talked to him about in terms of what we want from him, but the last thing I said to him before the game was to go out and enjoy himself and it looked like he really did.”

Another player who stood out on Tuesday was Kieron Bowie, who thankfully walked away unscathed from Stephen Quinn’s reckless challenge. For the second game running, the young Fulham loanee came off the bench and Cobblers noticeably improved as a result.

Brady added: "Kieron is all you want in a young player who's in his first loan. He gets on brilliantly with the boys, he loves playing for the team and he's worked so hard to get back fit.

"He's got back way before he should have and that’s down to Kieron and our physio Michael (Bolger) and the medical department. Michael has a real tough job at the moment but all the staff work really hard and Kieron has to have the attitude and the hunger to come back and he's certainly got that in abundance.

“You could see how much he helps the team when he came on. He's very selfless in his performances and we are very grateful to have him here.”

Brady received his fifth yellow card of the season for his touchline antics during Tuesday’s game and afterwards he revealed what that was for.

"I respect Mansfield but every time you are on a breakaway against them, they scythe you down,” he said. "It's brutal what they do and it's game after game and I think it's very disappointing that the referees don't knuckle down on it. Everyone knows it.

"That's what I was hugely disappointed about – the physicality of their challenges – so I had a point to make to the officials because I didn't think they were dealing with it properly.”

On Quinn’s red card, he added: "The ref had to make the decision and he made it pretty swiftly. I think it was frustration from them and that came from the way we were playing.

"But it was what it was and even if we played against 11, I felt we would have been strong enough to go on and win the game.”