Cobblers boss Wilder believes pre-season campaign is ‘bang on track’

Cobblers manager Chris Wilder feels his side’s pre-season campaign is “bang on track” although he admits there’s still work to do ahead of their fifth friendly against Birmingham City at Sixfields on Tuesday night (ko 7.30pm).
Chris Wilder (picture: Sharon Lucey)Chris Wilder (picture: Sharon Lucey)
Chris Wilder (picture: Sharon Lucey)

The Cobblers impressed against Derby County on Saturday – despite losing 1-0 – and now face another stern challenge in the form of Gary Rowett’s Birmingham.

Looking ahead to that game, Wilder said: “We’ll mix the team up for Tuesday.

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“There won’t be a lot of changes, but we’ll mix it up and pick a side to go again and hopefully we get as much out of that game as we did on Saturday.

“They’re in the Championship and a side who will want to do well so I expect it’ll be a similar test to Derby.”

Town dominated possession in Saturday’s friendly against the Rams but struggled to fashion many clear-cut chances, something which Wilder is keen to work on.

He continued: “It’s just getting into those situations more. We’ve not done any finishing work because you have to structure it.

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“Part of pre-season, especially the early part, is getting the players fit and concentrating on how we want to play and we did that against Derby.

“We looked as if we were bang on track in terms of pressing, playing high up the pitch and making it difficult for the opposition, which we did.

“Of course there’s still work to be done at the top of the pitch in terms of movement and the final third and we’ve not done any work on set-pieces, so there’s always stuff to add on.

“But we’re still three weeks away so there’s plenty of time and a lot of work to do. At this time we’re at a good place.”