Boss Curle confident new-look Cobblers are ready for the big kick-off

It has been a long and busy summer, but Cobblers boss Keith Curle is confident his new-look team is ready to hit the ground running when the new Sky Bet League Two season starts on Saturday.

Town entertain Walsall at at the PTS Academy Stadium, and will be hoping to claim a first opening day win since a John-Joe O’Toole goal secured a 1-0 success at Bristol Rovers back in 2015.

It will be a very different Cobblers team which takes to the field when compared to the one that finished last season with a 5-2 win at Oldham Athletic.

A total of 12 new players have been signed, while 11 have left the club.

It has been a summer of rebuilding, but Curle is confident the team can click straight into top gear.

“I want to get the season started, and in my mind we are ready,” said the Cobblers boss.

“We have been working on the principles that I think are going to be key, both in possession and out of possession, and we have been putting a structure in place and a foundation for the players to work from.

“I want to play entertaining, free-flowing and attacking football, I want to play in the opposition’s half, and I want to be creative when we get into the opposition’s final third.”

Curle, who has a fully fit squad to pick from, is desperate to get off to a positive start.

And he added: “Part of the job is building momentum, and you build that momentum through pre-season and you want that first win.

“Everybody wants that first win because it gives the players in the changing room a belief of potentially where the season could lead. The sooner you get that first win, the sooner you can relax and the sooner everybody starts to enjoy themselves.”