Boss Curle is desperate to end his long wait for a promotion

Keith Curle began his managerial career in 2002 when he was appointed player-manager of Mansfield.

Eighteen years on from his first job in management, Keith Curle has an opportunity to finally remove a dark cloud that has loomed over much his career.

Curle has enjoyed plenty of highs and lows during those 18 years but he's yet to win a promotion at any of his six different clubs.

And that absence of a promotion on his CV has proved a source of concern among many Cobblers supporters ever since his appointment as manager of the club in October 2018.

The 56-year-old has suffered play-off agony in the past, both with Mansfield and Carlisle, but he’s hoping it’ll be third time lucky when the Cobblers head to Wembley to play Exeter City next Monday.

He knows, as well as anyone, that he must prove his promotion credentials.

“Make no mistake, I’ve got a belief of where I want to go in my career and I need a promotion,” said Curle after Monday’s stunning 3-0 win at Cheltenham in the semi-final.

“I need a promotion for my own individual profile because I think I’ve done a very good job at some of the clubs I’ve been to, taking them to the higher echelons of divisions compared to where they were when I walked in.

“But now I need people to know that I’m not just a firefighter – I can win games of football too.”

Regardless of what happens in Monday’s final, the former England defender remains confident that Town are on the right path under his leadership.

“Right from day one, when I came in, my mantra to the chairman was that I need to make the football club competitive again,” added Curle, who’s out of contract a day after the play-off final.

“We just had a relegation and the club was third from bottom in the division, but right from when I walked in, we’ve competed and that’s something that’s growing.”

If Curle is to end his long wait for a promotion, he’ll have to inspire his players to victory against an Exeter City side who were just outside the top three when the season was suspended in March.

Cobblers have played the Grecians twice this season, losing 3-2 in December before goals from Vadaine Oliver and Sam Hoskins helped them to a 2-0 victory at the PTS.

“The players will have a day to embrace what they achieved on Monday night and we don’t shy away from that,” Curle continued.

“We don’t look forward until we have looked back and look at how we got that result, what our mindset was and how we physically and mentally prepare.

“We try and replicate that and we will get the players in a positive frame of mind for the final.”