Brady confident Cobblers will reap rewards from recruiting young players but expects 'bumps in the road'

Manager Jon Brady believes Cobblers will reap the rewards from committing to a policy of recruiting mostly young players this summer, even if there will be ‘bumps in the road’ along the way.

Five of Northampton’s nine summer signings are aged 22 or under while Danny Hylton is the only player in the squad older than 30, although he will soon be joined by Jon Guthrie. The average age of the squad, even excluding the academy players who featured in pre-season, is under 25.

Brady and assistant Colin Calderwood have gained a reputation for improving and developing young players, and should that continue going into the new season, the club will find itself in a strong position in 12 months’ time.

"With the youngsters you have to understand that it is not always going to be plain-sailing,” said Brady. "We talk about bumps in the road and there will be that, there will be performances where you think they have cracked it and there will be dips where you have to try and be positive and see it through.

"We have gone on that model, we believe we have young up and and coming talent that can really be good and strong now, and be even better for the future. It will take a lot of hard work, and we are prepared to do that."

Brady is not overly concerned by a supposed lack of experience within his squad, although he could yet add some older faces before the transfer window shuts. The deadline is the end of August.

He added: "You need the experienced guys, but I would say in our group we have Sam Hoskins, we have Mitch Pinnock, we have Jack Sowerby, and I would even put Shaun McWilliams in there, and they have got to really step up with their leadership and their experience.

"They did that last year and I feel they need to step up again, and consistency is the key in that.”