Jon Brady praised the efforts of his players as he reflected on Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Bristol Rovers.
In-form Rovers took the lead inside 60 seconds but the Cobblers, twice denied by the cross bar, deserved more from their performance.
“It didn’t quite happen for us today,” he said.
“We hit the woodwork twice and Paul Lewis was denied by a great save. I think we did enough to get at least a point today but I’m really pleased with the way the supporters stuck with us right until the end.
“You can’t give the most in-form team in the league a goal like we did inside 40 seconds and that gave us a mountain to climb.
“We dominated most of the game after that and we had the clear cut chances.
“We’ve put ourselves in a great position and it’s still all to play for.
“Today is a minor set back in terms of the result but not in terms of the performance."
Giving an injury update on Tyler Magloire, Brady said:
“Tyler has dislocated his shoulder and has gone off to hospital.
“Peter Abimbola came on and did well. He broke up the play, he needs to work on his passing and I only brought him off as a tactical change.
“It was a tough call but I have to think about us and we needed a goal. I explained that to him and he understood completely. He can be very pleased with his performance.
“It looks like Shaun McWilliams is going to be out for the season and Ali Koiki will be missing for three to four weeks. It’s tough but other players have got to step up to the plate and we need to find a way.
“We have been hit hard by injuries but we haven’t made excuses, Scott Pollock will come back from his loan this week and he will be available for next Saturday as well as maybe Max Dyche."