Buchanan would love a future role at the Cobblers

The 33-year-old defender spent four largely successful and happy years at the PTS Academy Stadium before being released by Keith Curle at the end of last season.

Now plying his trade at Chesterfield in the National League, Buchanan continues to keep a close eye on the Cobblers and regularly interacts with fans on social media.

Whilst he hopes to keep playing for at least one more season, he admits he’s already got an eye on the future and a possible reunion with the club that became his home for so long.

“Hopefully, some time in the future, I can go back to the club whether in a coaching role or something else,” he said.

“I’d love to be given the opportunity at some point. I was meant to be doing my coaching badges in May but obviously that’s all been cancelled now because of what’s going on.

“I still want to get into coaching though, and I’ve also got a business on the side as well and I’ve done my journalism stuff.

“I could have done the player-coach route at the end of my last season at Northampton but being 32 I still felt like I had time left in football and I think that has proved to be the right decision.

“But if an opportunity arises where somebody offers me a coaching position or a role in the youth team, whatever it may be, particularly if it’s at the Cobblers, that would be very difficult to turn down to be honest.”

Buchanan was hardly ever injured during his four years at the Cobblers but he hasn’t been so fortune at Chesterfield having missed two months at the start of the season through a serious ankle issue.

However, the former Preston man has still racked up 25 appearances for the Spireites in what he describes as an enjoyable first season at the club.

“I’ve still got another year left at Chesterfield and I want to keep playing – I’ll play for as long as I can,” he added.

“Even though I got a bad injury this season, when I’ve been available I’ve played and I feel as though I’m as fit as ever and my stats during games have been right up there.”

Among the title favourites before the season, Chesterfield have been struggling at the wrong end of the division for most of the campaign and only recently jumped out of the relegation zone under new manager John Pemberton.

“When we started the season we were favourites to win the league but we got off to a slow start and then picked up a few injuries and the manager lost his job,” Buchanan explained.

“The new gaffer came in and we went back to basics and our confidence returned. We were on a great run when the season was suspended

“We were just outside the relegation zone but we had picked up 17 points from the last nine games, which is promotion form, so if we had kept going I have no doubt we’d have finished in mid-table.”

The National League season was officially ended last week but it has not yet been decided who, if anyone, will be promoted or relegated.

Buchanan, speaking before the decision was made, had hoped to complete the season and would have been willing to play behind closed doors.

He added: “I think the season should be finished because how do you decide what happens otherwise?

“From a player’s perspective, you want to finish the league because if you win the league or go up through the play-offs, you want to say you did it on merit.

“And if you get relegation at the end of 46 games, you deserve to get relegated. You just want to have it in your own hands and not someone to decide it on points-per-game or whatever and allow that to determine who goes up and who stays down.

“It’s just got to be finished and it’ll probably have to be behind closed doors.

“That would be very strange but I think the whole world will be a different place at the end of this, but to be honest I think it could end up being a good thing for football, especially at the top end of the game.”