Jon Brady: Northampton Town boss says hurt of last season has motivated squad
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Jon Brady took over at Northampton in May 2021, following the departure of Keith Curle
Northampton boss Jon Brady says the heartbreak of missing out on automatic promotion last season left a "big scar" but has helped "drive" their challenge to go up from League Two this term.
The Cobblers were edged out of a top-three finish last season on goals scored before losing in the play-offs.
But a maximum of two points from their last two games will be enough to seal a place in League One for next season.
"It would be great to get it over the line," Brady told BBC Look East.
The Cobblers head into their last two matches in second place in the League Two table, five points ahead of Stockport and Carlisle - two of the three teams who could still, mathematically, deny Northampton an automatic promotion spot.
The other team - Bradford City, who have a game in hand - are the visitors to Sixfields on Saturday, where the Cobblers have won five of their past six matches.
"I don't feel there's any pressure on the group," Brady said.
"We've put ourselves in this position when nobody probably expected us to be there. But all we can do is give our best, and our home form has been excellent."
Missing promotion 'not a failure'
Northampton's disappointment at not going up last season was crushing.
Despite winning four of their last five games, a final-day 3-1 victory at Barrow was not enough as Bristol Rovers' miraculous 7-0 win over Scunthorpe sent them up instead on goals scored.
Defeat by Mansfield in the play-offs followed and Brady said it took a while to process what had happened.
"I had to get over it very quickly because we had the play-offs. It wasn't until off-season that we could reflect on it. It was tough," he said.
"Obviously that's been a big scar in there but that's probably helped with the drive and the determination of the group.
"There was no finer line than last season. I wouldn't call it a failure, but from your greatest suffering, you find inner strength and I think we've found a lot of inner strength this season."
Injury-hit squad 'finding a way' to keep promotion dream going
Brady and his staff have had to cope with a persistent injury list that has deprived the side of a host of key players during the campaign.
He has had to almost 're-coach' some players to play in a different position to cope, adding that it has been "humbling" to see players "get off treatment table to play".
Despite a redemptive promotion within touching distance, Brady remains detached from too much reflection on what they have managed to do.
"When you're in the moment you don't look back," he said. "We've simply been finding a way. Maybe when we look back on the season we'll think 'wow how did we do that?' but at the moment we're looking forward.
"The fans feel it's a League One club, I think the chairman [Kelvin Thomas] has been hugely supporting so it would mean a lot to me to help him and [CEO] James Whiting achieve their dream."