Northampton Town: Clarke Carlisle praises 'master' Aidy Boothroyd

Northampton Town defender Clarke Carlisle has said boss Aidy Boothroyd is the right man to turn Saturday's League Two play-off final defeat into a promotion campaign next season.

The Cobblers were thumped 3-0 by Bradford at Wembley.

"You can learn from experiences both positive and negative," Carlisle told BBC Radio Northampton.

"We have a manager who is a master at that. I've no doubts we'll make even greater improvements next season."

Former Watford and Coventry boss Boothroyd steered Northampton away from relegation 12 months ago and led the Sixfields side to a sixth-place finish in his first full campaign at the helm.

But the Cobblers' hopes of ending their four-year exile from League One were undone by three Bradford goals in the first 30 minutes at Wembley.

"It's been a magnificent season for a team that was nearly non-league last year," added 33-year-old Carlisle.

"It's a fantastic season with such an anti-climatic ending.

"We'll harness that experience and it will guide us on to better things next year."

Boothroyd will now spend the summer preparing his side for another tilt at promotion.

"I'll meet up with all the players individually, as I do with every team in every year," he said.

"I'll have a chat with the chairman and between us we'll work out a campaign to come back bouncing and go again for promotion next year.

"We're a football club that's on the up. This time last year we could have been relegated. This time next year we have to make sure we're promoted."