Cobblers 'close to one or two', says Hogg after Coventry friendly

Hogg named close to a full-strength starting XI for the visit of Frank Lampard’s Premier League Sky Blues, but although his men were excellent off the ball in shutting out a team full of attacking quality, their lack of firepower and threat up front was again evident.

Five players have been signed so far this summer, four of whom started at Sixfields, but work continues to be done behind the scenes to strengthen the squad further before Town’s Carabao Cup opener at Leicester, which is now just three weeks away.

"We want to build a robust squad and obviously we need to add goals to the team and try and give us more in the attacking half of the pitch,” said Hogg. “Central areas are always key to that for me in terms of midfield players and number 10s and 9s.

"We’re looking at a variety of things and we’re close on one or two but I’m not going to say too much on who they are or where we’re at with them. We’re hopeful on one or two in the coming days because we’ve got a lot to do to help the boys.

"We have a solid foundation to build on, as you saw today, but the boys need more support and we need a bit more depth and quality in our squad. We have a lot of work to do but things don’t happen overnight.”