Jon Brady said everything was still to play for as he reflected on the play-off semi-final first leg at Mansfield.
The Cobblers were beaten 2-1 on the night but Ali Koiki’s goal in the second half means the tie is far from over heading into the return leg at Sixfields on Wednesday night.
“We are very much still in it,” he said.
“The two goals we conceded were uncharacteristic for us but the first one was off-side as TV replays have shown so we have been a little bit hard done by again there.
“We acquitted ourselves well in the second half, we were a lot more purposeful in our play and a lot more aggressive in the things we did.
“We had some good entries into the final third and we just spoke at half-time about needing to do the things we have done well all season.
“It was great for Ali to pop up with his first goal and it was a great bit of set up play from Louis Appere.
“We’re looking forward to taking them back to Sixfields, we have been strong at home all season, we were in the ascendancy in the second half and we need to take that into the second leg.
“The fans can help us, we’ve been together from the start this season and we need them to get Sixfields rocking on Wednesday night.”