Brady not prepared to rule Cobblers out of the race and has no issues with his side's endeavour at Mansfield

Jon Brady says the Cobblers have the 'utmost belief' that they can still win automatic promotion this season despite Saturday's damaging defeat to rivals Mansfield Town.

Town's promotion bid suffered a potentially significant setback at Field Mill where Oliver Hawkins' first-half header handed the Stags a deserved 1-0 victory.

Cobblers dropped out of the top three in League Two for the first time in a long time as a result. Given their stuttering form, and the fact that both Port Vale and Mansfield have games in hand, and Town's top three hopes look increasingly remote.

Bu Brady said: "We are in fourth and I don't think many people would have expected us to be where we are right now at the start of the season.

"We have the utmost belief within the group and there's still plenty of football to be played. There are 18 points to play for and there's a long way to go.

"We can't get too down about it. There will be more swings and roundabouts, ups and downs between now and the end of the season. The result was disappointing but we will pick ourselves back up."

Cobblers did have their moments on Saturday, with Mitch Pinnock going closest when hitting the bar in the first-half, but Mansfield could have won by more after registering 17 shots to the away side's eight.

However, Liam Roberts made some fine saves between his posts and meant Town took it right until the full-time whistle, even after Paul Lewis saw red.

Brady added: "I thought we really pushed them with 10 men and we looked like we could go on and get the next goal.

"Away from home, you have to put your bodies on the line and the boys did that. The effort was absolutely fantastic and overall I thought it was a good game, it's just a shame that some key moments were not officiated better.

"But it would have been a cracking game for the neutral because it was two teams going out to try and win the game and in the end they came out on top with a controversial decision in my opinion."

Cobblers will have Ali Koiki and Idris Kanu back available for the next game.

"Idris and Ali will train all this week and that will be a real boost for us and it'll be good to have them back involved," said Brady.