Brady saw some 'really frustrating moments' in Cobblers' performance against Hartlepool

Jon Brady hopes to see signs of improvement from the Cobblers at Crawley Town on Tuesday evening after admitting he was ‘really frustrated’ by elements of his side’s performance against Hartlepool United – despite their 2-1 victory.

Northampton deserved all three points on Saturday but a few sloppy moments – at both ends of the pitch – made for a more difficult afternoon than it needed to be, particularly in the second-half when they squandered numerous opportunities on the counter-attack.

Whilst seven points from three games represents a good start, Brady is not getting carried away and knows his side must keep improving.

"It's important to have points on the board but it's about us improving,” he said. “I thought on Saturday we were much better in possession than we were last weekend at Grimsby.

"That was a different challenge but I keep saying, we will be a work in progress. There are some really frustrating moments out there but we can't get too overly frustrated.

"To come in at 1-1 was a kick in the stomach but we showed character to come out after half-time and keep pushing and keep pushing. We had 20 shots in total, 11 on target, and we could have been more clinical but that bodes well.

"We just have to keep working, keep believing and stay positive with the group because they really are trying and you saw that against Hartlepool. It is so early – Tuesday will be our fourth league game – and we feel we will still be improving 10 or 15 games in."

Tuesday’s opponents Crawley have undergone a transformation on and off the pitch since the end of last season but they are yet to score a goal in the league this season and only picked up their first point at Harrogate on Saturday.

Under former Arsenal youth team coach Kevin Betsy, Crawley have spent some big money this summer and now play a possession-based style.

"It doesn’t get concern me where they are at,” Brady added. “It concerns me more where we are at and our players and us going forward.

"Crawley will still be knitting together. They have played some good football and they have been in every game they have played so far. We are ready to go and we are looking forward to the game on Tuesday.”