Cobblers boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink praised the commitment of his players as he reflected on his first game in charge, a 1-0 home win over Doncaster Rovers.
“It was important to get the three points,” he said.
“The players worked very hard and the application was magnificent.
“The three points were very important but you look at your team and how they can suffer and we suffered at times today. That was always going to be the case because we have only been together a few days.
“The players put their bodies on the line and that is a must but we defended more than we perhaps should have. We could have kept the ball a bit better and if we had taken another chance we could have maybe been a bit freer.
“We need to work on the confidence but it’s a very good start.”