Page's pride in Cobblers' performance at league one leaders Scunthorpe

Not many would have given the Cobblers a hope when Matty Taylor saw red with his side already 1-0 down against a team in such blistering form, but Jak McCourt’s 75th minute goal earned them an impressive point.

There was no hint of this being a smash and grab job either, if anything it was Scunthorpe who were thankful for the full-time whistle.

It was the type of battling, gritty performance which Cobblers fans have become accustomed to over the past 12 months, and Page knew the significance of it too.

“I’m really proud of them and really proud to be their manager,” he said.

“Against all the odds they’ve gone to top of the table and proven what I’ve said all along - we’ve been promoted this season but we’re here to have a go and that proves our intent on Saturday after being down to 10 men.

“I don’t care who we’re playing against at the minute, the belief in the changing room now after Saturday and after some other performances this season is outstanding.

“We’re growing in confidence and we’ll take confidence from going down to 10 men and being disappointed not to win.

“We have a never-say-die attitude and that’s something we’ve brought in and something we pride ourselves on.

“It’s highlighted in the changing room in big bold letters - ‘one more round’ - we keep going right until the end and Saturday typified what we’re all about.

“The characters we’ve brought into the football club have not only improved us from an ability point of view but also mentality with players that have played at the top and want to win every game, like Revs (Alex Revell), like Taylor and like (Gaby) Zakuani.

“Every single one of those players on Saturday was desperate to win that game.”

Saturday’s result alone will give great encouragement for the rest of the season, but it was also the manner of the performance and how they earned the draw which suggests this team could be a real force in league one.

“We’re realistic,” added Page.

“Nothing changes and we want to establish ourselves as a league one football club, and it’s encouraging when you see the signs we saw on Saturday.

“But it can change overnight and we’re not going to get carried away because there are bigger teams in this division that are having little wobbles at the moment.

“It’s important that we recognise when we do, rectify it as best we can and try to put it right.

“But at the minute we’re full of confidence and we’ll be positive going into next week.

“It’s about what we do and if all of us reach the standards that we set individually and as a team, then we won’t fear anybody.”