Jon Brady praised Northampton’s resilience after they held off a spirited Stevenage fightback to secure a crucial 2-1 away win.

Goals from Aaron McGowan and Mitch Pinnock put the promotion-chasing Cobblers 2-0 up before Chris Lines pulled one back for Stevenage late on.

Northampton survived a nervy final 10 minutes to secure their 18th league win of the season and stay second in a cramped League Two promotion battle.

And manager Brady was pleased with his team’s attitude after watching them return to winning ways following Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Carlisle.

“It was good to bounce back after the weekend. I felt we started well and we were in control of the game for a lot of it,” he said.

“We moved the ball well and scored with Aaron’s goal and that gave us a really good start and then we controlled the game for large periods.

“We talked about needing more quality in the final third and tonight we got it with two really good strikes.

“They threw everything they could towards us at the end and there were a few tough moments but apart from that, it was a good night and a big win.

“Stevenage gave their manager everything and they are fighting for their lives at the moment so you just have to go and get a result somehow, some way, and in the end we stood strong and that was positive.”

McGowan’s stunning half-volley in the 18th minute and Pinnock’s powerful strike just after the break mean Northampton are six points behind league leaders Forest Green but just three points separate them from seventh-placed Bristol Rovers.

Stevenage continue to drop towards the relegation zone, with their winless run now stretching to nine league games.

They are three points above 23rd-placed Oldham, who have two games in hand, and manager Paul Tisdale says his patience is running out after some more sloppy mistakes.

“We gave away a couple of cheap goals. They were wonderfully taken but from our point of view they are cheap goals to concede and those are the basics,” he said.

“I can’t ask any more of the players in terms of their tenacity and their nerve and again they gave so much effort but it’s about results now and we’re getting fed up of having the same conversations.

“I’m proud of the players for their determination but we need to start winning because we haven’t had anywhere near enough recently.

“We have to move onto the next game and we have to take the good stuff but my goodness we need to clean up some of our basics because we can’t afford to keep giving other teams a headstart on us.”