Curle admits Cobblers were 'frustrated' by postponement

Keith Curle admitted the Cobblers were left 'frustrated' after Saturday's League One clash with Oxford United was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Town were due to play their first league game in two weeks before referee Thomas Bramall deemed the pitch unsafe following heavy rain on Thursday and Friday.

"We were preparing for a busy period so to then be inactive and have the game postponed did lead to a level of frustration," said Curle. "But we were able to train on the astro-turf on Saturday.

"The referee had concerns regarding player safety because it had rained heavily on Thursday and Friday and that meant the pitch was full of water and it was soggy.

"It was raining when the referee did his inspection and I think he felt if it carried on raining, it would be unplayable so he deemed it not to be safe."

Curle made sure the day didn't go to waste though, adding: "The more contact time they have within the group the better. It wasn't a tactical session on Saturday but we got rid of some of the frustration from the players because they had been raring to go.

"You get a buzz when new players come into the building because they want to showcase what they're about and the players already here want to show what they're about as well.

"So there was plenty of anticipation and we found a training surface to have a run around and the more contact time you have, the better."