Cobblers can adopt siege mentality as Brady targets further improvement after strong week

Boss Jon Brady says the Cobblers can adopt something of a siege mentality over the final 12 games of the season after suffering more dreadful luck in terms of injuries and suspensions this week.

Left-back Ali Koiki has become the third player to be ruled out for the rest of the season due to injury, joining Ben Fox and Tyler Magloire, while four others are also currently on the sidelines and unlikely to return before the weekend.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the FA baffled everyone on Tuesday when rejecting the club’s appeal to overturn Aaron McGowan’s extremely soft red card against Crawley.

That means Town will be short on numbers once again when they visit struggling Hartlepool United on Saturday, but Brady believes it can add fuel to their fire and provide even more motivation to defy the odds.

“It can seem like the world is against us but the only way we get through that is to stick together and to fight and to find a way,” said Brady.

"This group of players put their bodies on the line and they give everything to the cause every week and we have to keep fighting and turn it into a positive story.

"We saw on Saturday that the red card really galvanised the crowd and I think there was a sense of injustice and it really rallied the players and it rallied our fans as well.

"To get the winning goal was 10 men showed real good character and a never-say-die attitude."

The win over Crawley capped off a strong week for the Cobblers but Brady knows his side still need to play better if they are to force their way into the top three.

"We all knew how important those points were on Saturday and we were really pleased with seven points from the week,” Brady added. “Nine would have been great but that's got to give the players some confidence.

"But now we need to kick on and finish the season strongly. We haven't played at our best and I feel we can still be better and that is something we are working towards.”