Boss Hasselbaink wants Cobblers to make flying Sixfields start

After the disappointment of successive home defeats at the hands of Rochdale and Gillingham, Town know they need to get things right on home soil, and quickly.

A feature of recent home matches, even the wins over Southend United and Milton Keynes Dons, has been the fact the Cobblers have started slowly.

They have been conservative in their approach, and allowed the visiting teams to dictate the pace.

Hasselbaink is aiming to make sure that won’t be happening again, and he has called on the Cobblers supporters to play their part in creating a positive vibe from the off at Sixfields.

“All of the games are important, but this one is even more important because of the two previous home matches,” said the Cobblers boss.

“We would love to get off to a good start, with a nice high tempo, a lot of positivity and intensity.

“That would help us mentally, and hopefully the support will be right behind us and pushing us forwards and we can get the performance right.”

So does the manager have an explanation for those sluggish Sixfields starts?

“I have noticed it of course, and yes I am a little bit concerned about it,” he said.

“We are better when we are very energetic and are fast starting, and we have to get that back.

“It is one of the things we are trying to sort out, and it is down to us to do that.

“It is as simple as taking a free-kick really quickly, taking a throw-in really quickly, it’s as simple as little things like that.

“That sets the tempo and gives the team a spark, and we have also said that it is up to us to lift the fans.

“Obviously it helps if they are right with us, but we need to lift them to give them something and try to make them go home happy.

“We will do our best.”