Brady praises Tranmere Rovers and has no grievances with the referee after goalless draw

Cobblers boss Jon Brady was keen to praise Tranmere Rovers rather than being too critical of his players after Saturday’s goalless draw at Sixfields.

Town played some good football in the first-half but their dominance of possession did not translate into many clear-cut chances and instead it was Tranmere who went closest when Lee Burge pulled off a stunning double save from Kane Hemmings and Paul Lewis.

The visitors continued to edge the opportunities after half-time, although Sam Hoskins missed a good chance to snatch all three points in stoppage-time.

Brady said: "Obviously we wanted to get all three points but we came up against a very resilient Tranmere side who got bodies behind the ball and worked really hard. They made it stuffy at times and that summed the game up.

"The margins can be so fine and we did have a few chances. I thought Hylts (Danny Hylton) should have got on the end of the cross from Sam (Hoskins). Maybe it was a lack of match sharpness but I felt that was a real key moment where we could have finished them off.

"Fair play to Burgey in the first-half, I’ve got to hold my hands up and say he made two tremendous saves to stop them from scoring. We wanted to win the game but that’s now seven unbeaten in the league. Tranmere are a team that doesn’t concede many goals and I thought their two centre-halves were excellent.”

Tranmere might have seen goalkeeper Ross Doohan sent off in the latter stages after he raced out of goal and brought down Louis Appéré, but Brady had no grumbles with the decision to only book him.

"I agree with the ref, there were two men behind the small and it was a yellow card,” he added. “The referee got it right today. The ball just didn’t fall for Hylts – if it bounces true he would have had a shot at goal but it wasn’t to be.”

Brady headed straight off from Sixfields so he could get back in time to watch Australia’s last-16 tie with Argentina in the World Cup, adding: “I fear the inevitable might happen but we have already won by getting through to this stage.

"I hate to be a pessimist but I can’t see it – but come on England tomorrow!”