Battling qualities delight boss Page after Cobblers deny Addicks

Despite finding themselves under intense pressure at times, Northampton restricted the Addicks to few clear openings and could even have come away with all three points once Alex Revell had headed them into a 16th minute lead.

But Charlton upped the tempo after half-time and duly levelled through Johnnie Jackson and they looked capable of going on to take victory, only for Northampton to dig deep and cling on.

Page said: “I think it’s a great point for us and it was another battling performance on the back of Tuesday when we played nearly 130 minutes.

“To recover in a small period of time and put in a performance like that is outstanding and credit goes to the lads.

“We knew they would come out strong after their first-half performance but we knew we had a goal in us and we posed a threat so they had to respect that and couldn’t commit too many men forward.

“They had a large spell of the game in the second-half and individually I thought there were a couple of our players off their game today but it’s not a bad habit to get into when you’re not quite at it but come away with a point out of the game.

“Every single one put a shift in and it’s a thoroughly deserved point.

“There are still things for us to work on but it’s important that when things aren’t quite going for us we still come away with a point and we’ll take a point away at Charlton all day long.”

The Cobblers were reunited with Ricky Holmes at The Valley on Saturday but he was kept relatively quiet by some resolute defending.

“I thought David Buchanan was outstanding against him,” said Page. “They know each other inside out and even when Ricky went on the other side, Aaron Phillips dealt with him well.

“He’s a fantastic player and Charlton have a great player on their hands. he’s been a fantastic servant to Northampton and I wish him all the best for the future.”