NORTHAMPTON Town boss Jon Brady said he was pleased for his players after they claimed a 1-0 win at Colchester United.

Jon Guthrie's first-half strike won it for the Cobblers at the JobServe Community Stadium, securing the visitors back-to-back wins at the start of the new League Two season.

Brady said: “To hang on like we did at the end, everyone needs to come to the table and everyone did.

“The biggest thing for us was that we’ve had 24 hours less to recover and some players have come back from Covid and played two 90 minutes in a row.

“It was tough but I thought we controlled the game in the first half and in the second half, it went their way.

“They’re going to have periods but it just showed how strong defensively we looked.

“I’m pleased for the players and their efforts and I’m pleased for the staff but ultimately, I’m pleased that it’s three different types of win as well.

“We played against Port Vale where there wasn’t really too much threat from them and then on Wednesday night, we played against Championship opposition (Coventry) and then come from 1-0 down and then today when we were under cosh in the second half especially and down to ten men, we’ve had loads of different scenarios over the last three games and we’ve rolled out on top three times.”

Northampton were left up against it when defender Fraser Horsfall was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity with a deliberate handball, in the 85th minute.

The U's piled on the pressure against their depleted opponents as a result in the closing stages but the Cobblers held out.

"Their centre-backs really stepped in with that extra pressure and that extra man and that sort of pinned us back," said Brady.

"But we got on the ball at times in our half, we weren't calm enough to find that extra pass and put ourselves under pressure.

"When we went down to ten men after 84 minutes, we were just defending for the last ten minutes.

"It was like a defending session on the training ground!

"The boys through their bodies at it and the amount of blocks we got in was great.

"I've got to make a special mention for Liam Roberts - I thought he was exceptional.

"He came to the fore when needed and that's what you want from your keeper."

Brady was on crutches in his technical area, having undergone surgery after rupturing his Achilles.

He added: "Please don't tell my surgeon that I was standing on my bad leg! "Hopefully I've got another week and a half in a cast and then I go into a boot."