Ian Sampson loving his role in Cobblers' first-team coaching setup

The former Town player and manager stepped up from his role with the academy on a short-term basis after Jon Brady’s previous number two Colin Calderwood left for Southampton in October.

He was only meant to be in the position for a few weeks as the club sought Calderwood’s replacement, but the arrangement worked well and with Town winning on the pitch, there was no reason to change it.

Sampson will continue to work alongside Brady and first-team coach Marc Richards for the final three games of the season before taking stock and reassessing the situation in the summer.

"It's always nice when you're winning games and that makes things a little bit easier,” said Sampson. “The defeats still hurt but it's not something I expected at the start of the year.

"Obviously Colin left us and that was a massive disappointment for everyone at the club because he's so well respected and he's got great experience.

"I was asked to come in and help out. Originally it was meant to be for a couple of months but it went well and it was suggested that I stay on until the end of the season and I was happy to do that.

"At the moment we're going to leave it but we will take stock at the end of the season and have a look at things and see where we're at in the summer.”

Following his success as a player and manager at Northampton, Sampson took on the role of Academy Manager back in 2019, but he’s relished his opportunity back in first-team football.

"It has reignited my fire a little bit," he admitted. “Getting wins is always special and it's a nice feeling to get three points on a Saturday – that's the most difficult thing to do but it's what we all work for, whether it's in the academy or the first-team.

"It's all about winning and you get that feeling again when you're around first-team players. It's something I've been used to in the past.

"I've got to say a big thank you to all of the staff at the academy because they've stepped up fantastically well. I've gone AWOL a little bit due to other responsibilities but it all runs very smoothly and that's down to all the staff.”