Jon Whitney praises Walsall players' character after dramatic win

A header from John-Joe O'Toole put the Cobblers ahead at the break before two goals in the space of six second half minutes from Matt Preston and Erhun Oztumer put the Saddlers in control.

But the drama was still to come at the Banks's Stadium with Marc Richards then missing a stoppage time penalty after the striker had been brought down in the box by Adam Chambers.

That miss ensured Whitney's men picked up their third straight victory at home – with the boss delighted with the way his team turned the game around after falling behind.

"You've got teams all over the pyramid - right the way up to the Premier League, that when they go a goal behind, their heads go," the boss said.

"That shows a lack of resilience. But we've got resilience.

"In the past, we haven't come back from going behind that many times but we've done it twice in two weeks now.

"In a way moving forward, if we ever find ourselves behind, the lads know they have already done it before. So we still do what we do, keep playing the way we do."

Walsall entered the clash having played out a 0-0 draw at Millwall on Wednesday while the Cobblers were fresh from their victory over Coventry seven days ago.

But despite contemplating changes, Whitney named the same starting XI for the fifth straight game.

And he felt playing on Wednesday contributed to his team having to defend deep at the end.

"You know you are going to come under a bit of pressure and then you add in the fatigue from the week, which I knew would come into play," the boss continued.

"But it's quite nice to hang on to that lead and them missing the penalty, well I think the harder you work the luckier you get.

"I think the lads, for the way they have applied themselves this week – with the eight hours on the bus on Wednesday – deserve that bit of luck.

"It wasn't great preparation but it just shows how good and disciplined my players are.

"I did toy with the thought 'can I turn the same team out?' but I think for their recent performances they deserved another chance, especially at home after the last two games here.

"It's a group effort. The energy all over the place has been great.

"I think the shift that Jason, Ozzy, Flo and Joe, the shift they have to do takes an incredible amount of effort. To keep doing it is a credit to them."