Wycombe Wanderers interim manager Sam Grace believes his side ‘could have been better’ but insists there were ‘plenty of positives’ in the 0-0 home draw to Northampton Town.

The clash was anything but a classic as both sides had limited chances at goal.

Things picked up in the second period as Cobblers keeper Nik Tzanev made a handful of big saves, as the Chairboys struggled to find that winner.

Despite the dropped points, Wanderers remain in the automatic promotion spots, three points clear of third-placed Wrexham.

Speaking after the stalemate, Grace said: “We could have done better – it is frustrating as did have more chances.

“The game took about 20/25 minutes to settle as they tried getting the ball to [Tom] Eaves as that is something we had planned for, and I thought the centre back partnership of Joe Low and Sonny Bradley stood up to that.

“They were committed to the cause, but we knew that this was what we were going to get from a Kevin Nolan team as they are fiery and put you under pressure.

“Tzanev has come out and made several good saves as he was the man of the match – he made those two great saves to deny Joe and Fred [Onyedinma].

“Any draw from home [could be looked at as two points dropped], as we can feel we can win any game.

“But it’s another point which goes to our objective and their keeper being named man of the match shows that we created several big changes.”

It’s only the third time in the league that Wanderers have failed to score in the league this season – each occasion has been at Adams Park (Northampton Town, Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers).

Cobblers’ boss Kevin Nolan was pleased with his side’s showing, as the Sixfield’s team are now six points clear of the League One drop zone.

He has only won one of his six games in charge so far, but has picked up six points in that time.

The ex-Bolton, Newcastle and West Ham man has also never lost to Wycombe as a manager – winning three and drawing two.

He said: “I think our performances have gone up a notch, both out of possession and in possession and I thought we were very good today.

“There were lots of positives to take away.

“We saw in the week that they had scored 52 goals in the league this season, so we did everything we could to stem our flow, and I have got a lot of confidence in these boys and these performances are something that I expect.

“But we’re not going to rest on our laurels, as we have got a big game on Tuesday night at Bolton, and if we can go there and give a good account of ourselves, like we did at Wycombe.”