Curle heaps praise on former player Pierre despite defender's suspension

Keith Curle is looking forward to seeing Aaron Pierre this weekend despite suspension ruling the defender out of Cobblers' clash with Shrewsbury Town.

The 27-year-old played 68 times over two years at Northampton and won the Player of the Year award shortly before leaving for Shrewsbury last summer.

Pierre has continued to impress in League One and picked up more awards for his performances last season, however he'll be missing on Saturday after being sent off against Portsmouth last weekend.

"I’m no different to a lot of Northampton fans because as soon as you look at the Shrewsbury fixture you think of Aaron Pierre and you look forward to competing against him," said Curle.

"He was a great servant to the football club and a fantastic character in the changing room and he's also genuinely a nice person, so I'm looking forward to seeing him, although I'm glad he's not playing against us!

"He was another player that was very professional and he was a very committed individual during his time at this club and now he's gone onto cement his place in a team in the division above which shows that he's got the ability to do that.

"We're pleased to have played a part in his progress and his development. It’s disappointing that he will be suspended for our game due to the sending off - but I don’t think he did it on purpose just because he didn’t want to play us!”