Burge makes changes to his fitness regime in bid to avoid repeat of injury troubles

Hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s injury woes, the experienced goalkeeper returned for pre-season looking as fit and as strong as ever and he puts that down to the work he’s done in the off-season.

Burge endured a very stop-start 2023/24, making just 20 appearances in all competitions due to a variety of injuries which included knee and groin problems, and that prompted a rethink over the summer.

"I'm feeling good,” said the 31-year-old, who penned a new one-year deal with the club in May. “I've had a strong, solid pre-season and I did a lot of work in the off-season to make sure I'm ready and hopefully that's showing because I feel really good.

"I thought it was very important to put that work in over the summer and I felt I needed to change a couple of things, which I did, and I feel great now.

"I've obviously been in the game a while but you're always learning new things about your body and as you get older little things take longer and it's about adapting and making changes when the time is right and that’s what I’ve done.”

After fighting with two young loanees throughout the course of last season, Burge has fresh competition for the gloves this term following the permanent arrival of Nik Tzanev.

Burge added: "Nik's been great since he's come in and he's been brilliant to work with. He's a bubbly lad but he wants to play so I know I need to keep my standards up.

"We still have a lot of familiarity from last season with Guths (Jon Guthrie) and Jordan (Willis) and that's always nice for a goalkeeper. We've worked with each other for a while and we know what each other is all about and that helps on the pitch.”

Cobblers claimed their first win of the season at the weekend and whilst it wasn’t the most convincing of performances, putting three points on the board was the most important thing for Burge.

"It was really important to get our first three points of the season and we were buzzing with that,” he said. "We weren’t at our best but being able to stay in games and stick in there is something we have always done in my time here.

"We've got that attitude to go right until the end and that showed last season because we scored a lot of late goals and we'll always try hard even when we're not quite at our best.

"We've got a fit squad and everyone's wanting to work for each other. The new lads have come in and they are workhorses as well so that will only make us better."

"At this stage of the season I don't think it really matters how you play, especially with all the new lads because we're still getting to know each other and understand everyone's strengths and weaknesses and gelling it all together.

"It's just about putting points on the board and we've done that and now the full focus is on getting another win this weekend."

Town face their toughest test so far on Saturday when they head to one of the teams expected to challenge for promotion in Darrell Clarke’s Barnsley.

"Barnsley are a big club at this level and they have a good fanbase and good players but it's exciting for us to go and play there again,” continued Burge.

"For us, it's about doing what we're good at and making sure we're in a good place to go and win the game. We can't fear anyone in this league – we have to go at them and win as many games as we can.

"Every game is so important and we need to be picking up points away from home and we'll definitely be at it and ready to go at the weekend.”