Brady puts player welfare first amid lockdown struggles for Cobblers striker

Cobblers boss Jon Brady has spoken out about the importance of looking after his players away from the football pitch, particularly in the era of coronavirus and lockdowns.

On Tuesday, the UK marked a year since lockdown was first introduced and whilst football has been permitted to continue for the 2020/21 season, the situation has understandably taken its toll on some players.

Brady was speaking specifically about Danny Rose. The striker has started only four games of Brady's 11 games but topped off one of his best performances in claret with a lovely assist for Sam Hoskins' winning goal against Oxford United on Tuesday.

"I spoke to Rosey about several things because he found lockdown quite hard, personally," Brady revealed. "I felt, at times, he needed a rest but I thought he led the line very well and he just looked a yard sharper all over the pitch.

"It was a great assist for Sammy and I'm really pleased for him."

Brady wants his players to feel comfortable in opening up to him - or other members of his coaching staff - should they have any problems. Ryan Edmondson is another player who has recently gone through a tough time off the pitch.

"I don't want to go into too much detail because that's between me and Danny but these are the things, as a manager, where you want to help people first and foremost," Brady added.

"We have a fantastic group of lads and everyone has peaks and troughs in their life and in their careers but you want to help those who are feeling down and lift them up.

"Some weeks, you might feel down and you need family members around you and good people around you and you want to build an environment and build a culture where you have a level of care with every single player and you can give them that level of care.

"You treat them as best as you can and you help them personally with things and I feel, with all of those players, we have showed that level of care.

"They will have times when they feel down but it's how we nurture them and how we manage them and how we get them back to being their best. Sometimes it doesn't always work, but it was great to see Rosey back to his best on Tuesday."