Curle: Kioso will help Cobblers be more of an attacking threat

Keith Curle believes new signing Peter Kioso will boost Cobblers as an attacking force as well as tightening them up defensively.

The 21-year-old Luton man is a defender by trade but will also look to get forward from right-back, as he did for Bolton Wanderers where he scored three goals in 13 appearances earlier in the season.

He showed signs of his attacking prowess when debuting for the Cobblers at Fleetwood on Tuesday, setting up chances for Danny Rose and Ricky Korboa in the second-half.

"He will offer something going forward and he can help turn that midfield possession into an attacking threat." said Curle. "He likes to get on the front foot and and he can use a football in terms of pass selection and getting forward.

"People talk about playing a possession-based game but we want possession with a forward-thinking mentality in terms of getting the ball into the opposition's half and making entries into their final third.

"As a football team at the moment, we don't recycle play in and around our own penalty area but we want to be competitive for the ball in the middle third with a forward-thinking mentality to gain entry into the final third.

"Then we want the quality and the numbers arriving into the box to give us goalscoring opportunities."

Whilst Town seemed to have taken a more proactive approach to the last two games, Curle says they must still be wary of their opponents given the strength of the division.

"We're respectful of the opposition and we are playing against good teams who have different threats," he added. "I don't think we're at a level yet where we can ignore the opposition and say it's all about us.

"That will come in time when we become more of an attacking threat than we have been. As we evolve, we get more people on the same page and other teams will be looking at our strengths rather than identifying our weaknesses."