Brady's feeling upbeat after seeing 'some really good stuff' from Cobblers in defeat to Walsall

Jon Brady says Cobblers will take plenty of confidence and optimism into tomorrow’s game against Salford City despite seeing their five-game winning run ended by defeat to Walsall in midweek.

Danny Johnson scored the game’s only goal as Walsall’s direct approach bore fruit, with Town unable to respond despite dominating the ball. The visitors had 64 per cent possession – and above 70 in the second-half alone – but failed to once test home goalkeeper Owen Evans.

Nonetheless, having watched the game back, Brady felt there were plenty of positives to focus on, as well as things that need to be worked on.

"They played a very aggressive way for the first 20 or 25 minutes but then we got in the game and started to play,” said Brady. "It's not all about possession but we dominated in the second-half. We put a lot of crosses into the box and there were a lot of near misses.

"You look at the group that finished the game – there were seven players aged under 23. We are pulling on all of our resources and I was really pleased with the bravery we showed to come through the physical test and play on top of that.

"We have said that we will go through some ups and downs and we can't always have it our own way. Everyone came away disappointed but I thought there was some really good stuff to pick out with the way we built from the back and played through the thirds.

"I thought that was hugely positive and I'm really proud of my players because of the way they tried to play. We stood up to it.”

Coming up against such a direct style will also be a good learning experience for Cobblers, with Brady adding: "I thought they learned brilliantly on the job with the way they dealt with them aerially. We restricted them to little. Obviously we can do so much better with the free-kick but it was always going to be a horrible, bitty game.

“We could have had more attempts but when they put 10 behind the ball, it is very hard to break down. This team will always be a work in progress and when you have over a third of the team missing, you have to adapt.

"But we came through the fight and built on that and in the second-half we played from the back quite well. We sliced them open a fair bit but we just needed those final finishing touches.

"I look back on it and you have to take positives out of it. It's good learning but there was nothing to be worried about from that game.”