Jon Brady wants Cobblers to 'control possession' more often but also 'mix it up' when needed

Cobblers boss Jon Brady wants his side to be able to ‘control possession’ on a more consistent basis after their impressively dominant performance against Lincoln City in midweek.

So often in the past Northampton have been known as a direct, physical outfit who go back to front quickly. That changed under Brady last season, however, and their evolution has continued into the new campaign.

Town are fourth in League One for average possession (56 per cent) over the first three games, and they had as much as 65 per cent of the ball, plus made over 500 passes and took 19 shots, during Tuesday’s 2-2 draw at Sixfields.

Brady intends to continue with this style of football moving forward, which means patience – both from supporters in the stands and players on the pitch – will be needed.

"You try and work to the strengths of your players and I feel we have a team that is strong on the ball and can control possession,” said Brady. "Yes, we can mix it up and we can go forward a little quicker if we need to but to be able to control possession is a good way to be, especially in League One when you come up against strong sides on big pitches. If you keep losing the ball, you're going to be doing a lot of work.

"If we can control possession in more games than we have done in the past, we'll be moving forward and improving as a team and as a club. Some people might not be used to it but we'll stick with our beliefs and our philosophy and how we want to play. Anyone moaning won't change the way we're going to play.”

Cobblers’ style might surprise a few teams and opposition supporters this season, with Brady adding: "I don't know whether we'll be catching anyone out, we're just trying to play the way we want to play to open opposition up, retain the ball, be purposeful and be the best version of us.

"The players have to make decisions in the moment and there are so many variables in the game. Tuesday night was mostly really positive and there were parts of Stevenage and Wigan that were really positive but consistency is the key and if we can be consistent in and out of possession, we'll pick up results and potentially could surprise people.”

But there is still plenty to work on. Brady added: "It was really positive on Tuesday in terms of how we played and the resilience we showed but there were also things to improve, especially the goals we conceded.

"The first one is a great strike but I think we should have stopped it higher up the pitch and then we should not be conceding that second goal. We should be defending that a lot better.”