'Nowhere near good enough' - Brady expects so much better from fringe players

Jon Brady both expects and requires a higher level of performance from his fringe players after describing some individuals as being ‘nowhere near good enough’ during Tuesday’s loss at Cambridge United.

Brady made three changes for the FA Cup replay, recalling Dylan Connolly, Michael Harriman and Danny Rose to the starting XI as Dominic Revan, Mitch Pinnock and Jordan Flores dropped out. Jack Sowerby was absent through injury.

However, despite missing only a couple of regular starters, Cobblers' performance level dropped significantly in the 3-1 defeat at the Abbey Stadium.

Brady has some sympathy with those squad members who are short on match sharpness but, at the same time, he wants and expects better.

“I think it’s hard for players to come in from out of the cold,” he admitted on the night.

“You’re asking them to perform and you think the level should be better, but you need to be consistent.

“The players have to take their opportunities but if you get two or three games in a row, then you can really show the best of yourself.

“Saying that, the level of performance from one or two was nowhere near good enough."

Speaking about it again at Thursday's press conference, Brady said: "We do need more from the squad. The players who have come in need to be better because they haven't been up to the levels that we require.

"I thought Rosey was excellent and he really worked hard but other individuals need to be better and we have spoken to them about that.

"Obviously we need to give them the best of us on the training ground but they need to do everything possible to hit the ground running through their attitude and their application."

Brady will be reliant on his fringe players performing better over the coming weeks, especially during the festive period as the fixtures stack up.

He added: "We have played a very consistent side over the last two months but it's such a long season and when you play so many matches, you need to rotate and you want those players to come in and really hit the ground running and keep the momentum going.

"It's certainly frustrating when it doesn't quite work the way you want it to so we have to look at the player and look at ourselves to make sure we do everything we can to get them 100 per cent ready."