Cobblers 'starting to play the way I want', says Brady, as classy Chouchane makes a difference

Town had adopted a more mixed style in the opening two league games of the season to suit the players that were available at the time but, with Chouchane thrown straight in for his debut at the weekend, they were able to keep the ball better against Barnsley.

The visitors made the stronger start and had several opportunities to take the lead but a defensive lapse allowed Barnsley to strike first before another error gave Cobblers a mountain to climb, however they rallied with two late goals to earn a point.

"I was disappointed to be 1-0 down at half-time but I wouldn't describe it as unlucky because we have to defend those moments better,” said Brady. “We have just switched off and those are things that can happen early in the season but we have to get it right.

"Some players who played today have only been in for a week or two weeks and they are still getting to know each other so we have to get them connected better, but there are huge positives for us.

"The way we played, I feel we are starting to play the way I want us to play, especially going forwards in the first half because we carved them open a few times. We want to build the ball, we want to draw the opposition onto us and I thought we did that.”

Despite only being on the pitch for 70 minutes, Chouchane’s 53 passes were by far the most for the Cobblers, 21 more than anyone else, and he also made four key passes, again well clear of his team-mates.

Brady added: "That was Samy's EFL debut and I thought he played very well. He fatigued because the pace and the intensity and the physicality of these games is so much different to Premier League 2.

"But I thought his line-breaking passes through to the front players at times were exceptional and those are the qualities we want him to add to the team. Sam (Hoskins) made some good runs and he found him a couple of times.

"He (Chouchane) showed calmness and he dealt with the physicality and it was just fatigue at the end but I was really pleased with him and his performance and he'll only add and enhance the way we want to play and you saw that today.”