Burge eager to keep his first clean sheet for Cobblers

Lee Burge’s start to life in goal for the Cobblers is a useful example of why statistics and numbers don’t always tell the full story.

The 29-year-old experienced shot-stopper had big gloves to fill after Liam Roberts’ performances last season and, on the face of things, it has been a tough start with no clean sheet and eight goals conceded in five league starts.

But, on the contrary, Burge has been impressive between the posts and if not for him and his reflexes, Cobblers would have shipped more goals and gained fewer points.

He made one exceptional save in each of Town’s first three league games before quieter outings at Crewe and Crawley. He shipped four goals in those two games but had little else to do. Like a striker wanting his first goal, all that’s missing is a precious clean sheet.

Burge said: "It would be nice to keep one! I didn’t really have that much to do at Crewe on Saturday but two goals go in, one is a worldie and the other is a tap-in.

"There’s not much you can do about that as a goalkeeper but it’s important to stay switched on and keep doing what you do in training.

"It will come. I don’t have any concerns about that. As long as the lads keep scoring as they are and we are winning games it doesn’t matter too much but hopefully we will get those clean sheets.”

If the rest of the season is as chaotic as it has been so far, we are in for a wild ride. Four of Town’s first five games have included a result-changing goal scored in the 88th-minute or later, including a 97th-minute equaliser at Crewe on Saturday.

"I don’t think I have been involved in five games like that but it just shows the character of the boys and how we are in the changing room,” Burge added.

"Everyone gets on with each other and we all want the same thing and we are striving for the same thing and that’s showing on the pitch.

"We have talked a lot about character and belief and we have definitely showed that because when we have gone behind, we have come back to get a win or a draw.”

It’s generally accepted by fans, players and coaches that, whilst they have made their best start to a season in 32 years, Cobblers are yet to really hit their straps.

There has been plenty of encouragement, particularly on the attacking front: only Peterborough and Portsmouth in the whole EFL can better Town’s tally of 11 goals.

But relying on just one man to score virtually all of your goals is unsustainable in the long-term, and neither can they count on stoppage-time drama every week, so improvement will be needed.

"We haven’t played at our best and we know that but it’s important to enjoy every win you get even if you don’t play that well,” stressed Burge.

"At the end of the day, it’s points on the board. We want to keep getting better and the performances will improve but if we play badly, we will still take three points.

"I don’t think we have played badly but at times we haven’t found our flow and it’s not been totally there yet but that will come and hopefully when it does there will be no stopping us.”