Cobblers boss Page encouraged by '˜great first week' back in League One

Rob Page after his side's draw against Charlton. Picture: Kirsty Edmonds

Northampton led in both of those opening two league games but they couldn’t hang on in either as Fleetwood Town and Charlton Athletic pegged them back.

However, with the extra-time EFL Cup win at Barnsley sandwiched in between, Page has seen enough from his side to be optimistic for the remainder of the campaign.

“There’s always things to work on,” he said after the draw at Charlton. “But there were more positives than negatives out of the first game against Fleetwood when we created the better chances and could have won the game.

“We took that momentum into the cup game and got a fantastic result and then we’ve gone to Charlton which isn’t going to be an easy place to go to this season.

“I was proud of their performance. There are things that we can and need to improve on, I thought at times our passing was slopping, but we aren’t at our best and we got a point so that’s a good habit.

“It’s been a great week and a lot of positives have come out of it.”

But there’s no time for Page and his men to rest on their laurels with a trip to Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night as the games come thick and fast in these first few weeks.

He added: “We’ll make sure they recover again and are ready to go again on Tuesday. We have good characters here who don’t want to miss training.

“They will all be willing to put a shift in again on Monday and the games come thick and fast now with Oldham to come on Tuesday.”

Page is still hoping to add one or two new faces to his squad but he wouldn’t be drawn on who or when that might be.

“We are on the lookout and there might be somebody up top which will bring us strength in depth and we’ll keep everyone posted,” he added.

“As long as it’s the right one, I’ll be as patient as I have to be.

“Time’s running out but it’s important we get the right person through the door because I want a team of characters.

“To come into a team that hasn’t lost for so long is pressure in itself so you have to bring in the right characters to deal with that.”