Brady insists Cobblers will keep being positive no matter who they come up against in League One

Regardless of whether they are up against Wigan Athletic, Derby County or any other team in League One this season, Cobblers will continue to take a positive, front-footed approach, insists manager Jon Brady.

Whilst in the past Town have been meek and tentative when faced with some of the big boys at this level, on Saturday against Wigan they very much took the game to their hosts and played with purpose and positivity.

Brady pushed his players high up the pitch to press Wigan from goal-kicks for much of the game, and in possession Northampton looked to play through the Latics. The tone was set inside the first two minutes when a fabulous sweeping move from back to front led to Will Hondermarck hitting the post.

And although they may have been beaten by Callum McManaman’s terrific late strike at the DW Stadium, Brady does not intend to change his principles for any opposition this season.

"I want to be coming to places like Wigan and winning,” said the Town boss. “I talked to the players before the game about stepping onto them and not dropping off and we were aggressive in our press.

"You saw how many players we put up there on goal-kicks to really unsettle them and rattle them. We are Northampton Town and we have fought hard to get into this position and I'm not going to take a step back on our principles and the way I want to play and the way I want this team to play.

"The players have got to take confidence from this that we can go toe-to-toe and we can be better than the opposition but it's the consistency to do it through the whole 90 minutes. There's no way we're going to relent on that.”

Cobblers have lost both of their opening two League One games but the performances hint at better things to come.

"I said some real positive stuff to the group afterwards but there are key things that we need to learn from as well,” Brady added. “I don't want them to have their heads down.

"They are really hurting because they felt we were in control of the game and we believe we should have got something from the game as a minimum. We were in control and we dominated the game and we created a lot of chances. We reduced them to not a single shot on target for 68 minutes.

"But that extra quality at this level can hurt you and it has done today.”