Cobblers 'looking a lot fitter' - but Brady's still having to manage players after taking off Odimayo and Sowerby against Peterborough

Weeks of patiently managing his squad’s workload seem to be paying dividends for Jon Brady after Cobblers came on strong in the closing stages against both Lincoln City and Peterborough United last week, a stark contrast to their previous two matches.

With so many players coming back from injury, Brady knew his side would start the season on the back foot fitness-wise and that proved to be the case when they faded against Stevenage and Wigan in the first two games, but he’s always stressed the need to play the long game.

Cobblers scored twice in the final 10 minutes to draw 2-2 with Lincoln last Tuesday and they were the team in the ascendency before Mitch Pinnock’s 90th minute winner against rivals Posh at Sixfields on Saturday. Even in that game though, both Akin Odimayo and Jack Sowerby had to come off due to fatigue.

"We're looking a lot fitter now and we're believing in ourselves,” said Brady. “We knew where we were at in the final week of pre-season and it's been so difficult. I'm still having to make changes and look after players and we're four games in.

"We're paying the price for our promotion and the injuries we took at the end of last season. It's a horrible thing to do to still try and get results whilst also constantly having to move the team around and there's players who are fatiguing and they are having to come off at certain times.

"We had AK and Jack Sowerby today and nearly Jon Guthrie again. It's been tough, really tough, but to get that result with all the constraints and play the way we did was excellent.

"You could see the energy that we had right up until the very end. You could see against Stevenage and Wigan where I felt we were the better team in the first half in both games but unfortunately we faded.

"But we backed up Tuesday's game and that was the most important thing because everyone who came saw how well we played against Lincoln. To back that up again with the energy and effort we had, it shows the fitness is nearly there.

"Peterborough had a few flashes and some dangerous moments but they only had one shot on target all game and I think to a reduce a team like that to just one shot on target is an immense achievement.”