Curle praises Ashley-Seal and explains Smith's absence against Gillingham

Cobblers boss Keith Curle believes young striker Benny Ashley-Seal is getting better with every game after his excellent performance against Gillingham on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old initially struggled to adjust to the rigours of professional football following his move from Wolverhampton Wanderers U23s in the summer.

However, he showed promising signs against Lincoln City and then produced his best display in a Cobblers shirt during the 3-1 win over Gillingham.

Ashley-Seal was instrumental in Town’s second goal, going on a strong run before seeing his shot saved with Danny Rose turning in the rebound.

“Benny is learning and developing his game all the time,” said Curle. “He was brought in as somebody that we saw as nowhere near the finished article but he had the raw ingredients that we wanted to work with.

“His appetite for the game and to learning his trade is excellent. The only thing he needed was a goal but goals will come with Benny because he’s a threat and he’s a physical presence and he’s mobile and he wants to get in behind people.

“The more he plays and the more game-time he gets, the better he will become and I thought his willingness to work and to be the focal point for us, both him and Rosey, was very good.”

Ashley-Seal and Rose started together on Tuesday after Harry Smith missed out through illness.

“Harry has had a virus and with the current situation, anybody who isn’t well reports to us and we try and get them out of the building as quickly as we can do,” Curle explained.

“It’s not COVID-related with Harry but it’s precautionary to get him out of the building and make sure we keep our bubble very well protected.”

Town’s win over Gillingham lifted them out of the relegation zone and up to 19th.

Curle added: “I don’t look at the league table every week because there will be lots of twists and turns throughout the season and there will be surprising results.

“The only result that I look out for and concern myself with is our result and that’s whether we win, lose or draw because there are positives to take out of every game.

“We had players come back in which we have missed. We’re still building but when we have every player available, we are competitive.”