Cobblers reveal reason behind Marc Richards' recent absence from the dugout

The former Northampton striker, who scored 63 goals for the club across two spells during his playing days, has formed part of the coaching staff at Sixfields for the past few seasons, but he’s been less prominent in recent weeks.

As explained by the club this week, Richards has temporarily swapped roles with Under-18s head coach Shane Goddard, who is now working with the first-team, to allow both coaches to gain experience in different environments. According to the club, this role swap ‘will benefit both of them in their respective coaching careers as part of the club’s coaching development pathway’.

In his new role, Richards oversaw the youth team when they were beaten 2-1 by Luton Town in Saturday’s EFL Youth Alliance League game.

“We challenged the lads to compete and win their one-on-one battles,” said Richards afterwards. “We didn’t do that enough which is why we ended up losing the game. Our structure was good out of possession and when we regained possession high up the pitch, we lacked quality in the final third.

"Luton ultimately ended up winning the game late on due to us switching off defensively, which was really disappointing, but we’ll use this as a learning tool moving forward. Ahead of our next game against MK Dons, I’m challenging the boys to be better technically moving forward and to be clearer with their decision making.”