Jon Brady has called on his players to ‘step up’ ahead of Saturday’s game against Leyton Orient, which starts a crucial run of fixtures for the Cobblers.​

Town play fellow strugglers Orient, Crawley and Cambridge in the next month or so, all at Sixfields, and they will do so whilst managing a lengthy injury list. It’s also an extremely busy time for Brady’s men who have fixtures scheduled for five of the next six Tuesdays, including all of the next four.

Brady said: “Let’s not get away from it, defensively we need to improve. We have created a lot of chances and offensively we have looked good but on the flip side we have been too open.

“Everyone knows that. That’s not been us in the past but it is at the moment. We can only work hard on the training ground and we have tried to work around it.

“It’s very hard to change anything on the back-line with the injuries but players have to really step up. We can give them all the pictures and all the ideas we want but they have to go out and deliver it on matchday.

“There’s a level of individual responsibility and you’re looking for consistently good habits and a connection between players.

“We haven’t had that connection on our back-line because we’ve had to constantly make changes due to injuries but that’s part and parcel of it and we have to try and connect it as best as we can.”

Cobblers have not played in the league for nearly two weeks due to the international break, and Brady will be hoping the work he’s done on the training pitch will pay off on Saturday.

He added: “You’re always trying to get the balance right and hopefully we have done but the proof will be in the pudding on Saturday and whether we are sharp enough to play well. Our full focus is on prepping right.

“Some players needed a break and others needed to work and you try and manage the squad and it’s always about getting that balance right. We’re aiming to beat Leyton Orient and putting in the best performance we can. We know it’ll be difficult because they are a very strong side with good players so we need to be at our best.”

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