Brady impressed by 'sharp' Jones during his debut cameo against Charlton

Striker marked his debut with a well-taken header
Alex Jones heads in a debut goal.Alex Jones heads in a debut goal.
Alex Jones heads in a debut goal.

Cobblers boss Jon Brady was impressed by Alex Jones' lively cameo off the bench against Charlton Athletic in midweek.

There was only two minutes left of the 90 when Jones replaced Ryan Edmondson for his Town debut but that was enough time to catch the eye.

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The striker immediately went close to scoring - and could have had a penalty in the same incident - before glancing home Mark Marshall's corner in stoppage-time.

“He could have had a penalty when he was clipped on the heel but he was too honest because he stands up and they block the shot,” said Brady. “Maybe he could have taken the shot earlier, but what a finish with the header – that was excellent.

"He looked very sharp when he came on but we know his journey and the fact he's been out of the game for six months.

"It's tricky because he came on and looked so sharp and you think 'maybe we could have given him a bit longer?' because he surprised us all with his sharpness and his movements.

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"That's a real positive and a real bonus for us and that's another thing for us to be positive about coming away from the game."

Despite dropping back into the bottom four with defeat at The Valley, Brady came away feeling upbeat about what he had seen from his side.

“I felt throughout that our heads never dropped and we always worked hard,” he added. “You have a referee give a decision like that against you which is so crucial but the boys rolled their sleeves up and carried on.

“You’ve got to find the positives and you’ve got to keep moving forward and from these tough moments we have to build even more strength and even more character. This group is growing.

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“It’s important to reset gong into the weekend but I’m of the belief that we can win every game that we go into and we will play to win. We’re looking forward to Doncaster. We’ll regroup, get ourselves sorted and go there with a positive mindset.

“We need to pick ourselves up but we will just gain even more strength from Tuesday.”