Northampton boss Jon Brady was delighted with the way his side overcame multiple setbacks to claim a surprise 3-1 win at high-flying Huddersfield.
A Michal Helik own goal plus strikes from Cameron McGeehan and Tariqe Fosu meant Josh Koroma’s late effort was in vain – especially after the Huddersfield forward saw a tame penalty saved moments later.
Brady, who saw Akin Odimayo sent off with seven minutes remaining, said: “We had to make some changes.
“Sam Hoskins had to drive back home last night because his wife was giving birth, so he was due to start and we changed that round – so we had a few constraints as well.
“We had to have two goalkeepers on the bench because we had three players go down on Thursday, so we found a way.
“I thought our game plan was good. Up until 65 minutes we reduced them to no shots on target.
“We worked on it all week and fair play to the boys. We asked them to be brave on the ball and commit to the game plan – and we committed.
“We forced them into an area with our press early on and it was good. We got the goals at the right time and we could have gone 4-0 up at one point.
“Obviously with our sending-off we have to sink really deep and protect, and we’ve got nine players out there after an injury.
“So it might have looked that they put pressure on towards the end, but they put pressure on because we had nine players out there really.”
Huddersfield boss Michael Duff was mystified as to why his side failed to turn up for the occasion.
He said: “It was not good enough. I think it’s fair to say that everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.
“There was a comical own goal, a missed penalty, missed open goal, a foul in the build up to their third goal, but we weren’t good enough anyway.
“Northampton showed more urgency, they showed more energy, they fought harder than us, which is the most disappointing thing and it has to be unacceptable.
“It was a surprise. We had a really good week on the training ground in terms of quality, application, energy, a good feel around the place. We need to pick the bones out of it and find out where that performance came from.
“You could talk about formations and players and things like that but the second goal probably tells you everything. There’s a big, big boot down the pitch and their player runs past our players and scores. That can’t happen.
“I think if the penalty goes in, we get back into the game, probably undeservedly. Whether there was a bit of complacency, I don’t know.”
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