Jon Brady praised the efforts of his players following Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Bradford City.
Andy Cook had the Bantams 1-0 up at half-time but Max Dyche equalised in the second half and the Cobblers were in the ascendancy until Romoney Crichlow snatched all three points for Bradford in stoppage time.
Bradford’s winner came from a debatable free kick and was extremely cruel on the Cobblers who had given it everything.
“We pushed and pushed but unfortunately it wasn’t to be and we conceded right at the death,” he said.
“There are always ups and downs in football, we should have won today and in the end it’s a bit of a sucker punch but its still in our own hands.
“I’m disappointed with the goals we conceded but it looked like there was only going to be one winner in the second half.
“The boys showed a lot of energy and desire to go and get that second goal and their keeper kept them in the match.
“I spoke to the boys afterwards and I’m extremely proud of their performance, they might be a little bit down tonight but tomorrow we have to put that behind us.
“We have the right mindset, Tranmere will be tough but if we play like we did today in the second half we can beat anyone.
“The atmosphere here was hugely special and I’m just disappointed we couldn’t really enjoy that moment with the fans and we will need those 2,000 plus at Tranmere.
“We will be refreshed and ready and we go there with a job to do.
“This is a strong group, we are missing a lot of players but there mindset is excellent and we will get ourselves together and we will be prepared and right for a week on Monday.”