Cobblers have landed their first-choice targets in January

The three signings made by Cobblers so far this month were all first-choice targets, according to manager Keith Curle.

Ryan Edmondson and Mickel Miller joined on loan from Leeds and Rotherham respectively last week before Portsmouth midfielder Bryn Morris secured a temporary switch to Town on Monday.

Curle missed out on Miller and Edmondson in the summer and he was also keen on Morris, but this time he has been able to land his number one targets.

"I'm very happy with the players with the players we have brought in," said Curle. "They have been our first-choice targets, which is pleasing.

"We chased all three players in the last window and before that as well so they are not new to us - they've been on the radar.

"It's about being in the right place at the right time and it always helps when you're pursuing a player that you have shown an interest in before because you get a good understanding of what they do and what they're good at and you know what they will bring to the team."

Morris should provide Town with depth and versatility in midfield, qualities that will come in very handy during a busy run of fixtures over the next few weeks.

"The midfield area in any game is massively important and I think we now have a combination of players to give us options," said Curle.

"We're coming into a bank of games where we'll be playing Saturday-Tuesday, Saturday-Tuesday, and we're going to have injuries, suspensions and players in and out of form.

"It's important we don't lose out in that action area where we can still put good players in and now we have good competition.

"There is always a need to have various talents and various skillsets in midfield because in some games we'll have to be dogged and dig in and in other games we might have more of the ball and be more open and expansive.

"So we need to have the right personnel and the right players to choose from for those different type of games."