Brady thrilled to see Dyche make his mark after teenager steps in at the last minute

Young defender Max Dyche was only made aware that he would be starting against Leyton Orient on Saturday just a few short hours before kick-off.

The 18-year-old made a couple of first-team appearances last season but was yet to start a game at Sixfields and that looked set to continue on Saturday.

However, whilst he turned up to the ground expecting to be on the bench, Dyche walked into the changing room to discover he was starting after Jon Guthrie's wife went into labour.

The teenager answered Jon Brady' s call superbly with an assured performance alongside Fraser Horsfall at the back as Cobblers kept Orient at bay en route to three points and another clean sheet.

"I'm so pleased with Max," said Brady. "We know what he can do.

"He went out on loan with Kettering and we brought him back to play in the Papa John's game against Brighton but unfortunately he fell ill before that and didn't get the opportunity.

"At the moment we have five players out in defensive positions so we're really stretched but Max has come in today and it shows his dedication and how hard he works in training because he hasn't played for weeks and weeks.

"He's a fantastic lad and I'm just so pleased for him and I'm also pleased for our senior players who really directed him and helped him and the captain led by example.

"He helped Max massively and Ali (Koiki) also dropped in and helped him quite a lot and I asked before the game, I said 'when you have a young guy coming in like Max today, I know he will do well, but we need 15, 20 per cent more from the rest of you to really help him have a great performance'.

"And that's what we got. You look at the front line, Danny Rose, the way he worked today was incredible, but I don't want to single any player out because it was an exceptional effort from everyone."