Brady hails the 'incredible' work ethic of his young squad as Cobblers top the League Two form table

Jon Brady has hailed the ‘incredible’ work ethic of his young squad after they ‘emptied the tank’ in beating both Mansfield Town and Crewe Alexandra last week.

Without 10 players for both games, Brady was reliant on a core group of young players to do the business, with six starters aged under 23, and there were visible signs of fatigue in the second-half against Crewe, but Cobblers dug deep to make it three consecutive 1-0 wins at Sixfields.

Striker Louis Appéré epitomised their effort and endeavour when chasing all the way back to make a tackle and win a free-kick in the 82nd minute on Saturday.

"The work-rate and what they are all giving to the cause at the moment is incredible,” said Brady. “It was brilliant from Louis chasing back in the corner so late in the game.

"They are really emptying the tank and again we started with six players aged under 23 and then four more came on as substitutes, but we are finding a way.

"These games are not a given. Crewe had only lost one of their last seven and on Tuesday night we beat a team like Mansfield who had been free-scoring and winning games for fun away from home.

"So they are huge, huge results and it takes massive mental strength from the team.”

It was a bit jittery in the second-half at Sixfields on Saturday as Cobblers almost paid the price for missing a host of chances before half-time, but victory saw them go top of the League Two form table with 13 points from the last six games, one more than Carlisle.

"It could have been two or three,” Brady added. “Sam (Hoskins) hits the bar and Will (Hondermarck) had two shots saved and we still had some chances in the second-half as well – Jack Sowerby's got his shooting boots on at the moment!

"I think we had nine or 10 shots on target in total. Normally you don't have more than four or five so to have that many, and there were some good opportunities as well, was really good.”