Curle reveals Cobblers players were 'caught up' in traffic and arrived late for Wimbledon clash

Keith Curle revealed the Northampton traffic disrupted his side's preparations for today's first game of the season against AFC Wimbledon with three players arriving at the ground just 30 minutes before kick-off.

The A45 remained closed in Northampton all afternoon due to a police incident and it impacted Cobblers' plans ahead of their opening League One fixture of the season with three players caught up in the problems.

That disrupted their pre-match warm-up and perhaps partly explained why they made such a sloppy start, with Ethan Chislett pouncing on an error to score after just 21 seconds.

But the Cobblers responded well as Ricky Korboa and Matty Warburton ensured they were able to put their first point on the board with a 2-2 draw.

"A lot of people would say we've got seven players out injured and we also didn't have a full team at 2.30pm today," revealed Curle.

"We had three people stuck in traffic because there was an incident on the road and that would have affected a lot of people in Northampton.

"We had players caught up in that and some weren't even at the ground until 2.30pm so that's something we'll have to revisit because we need to make sure we cover all eventualities.

"It causes a distraction in the changing room because with the bubble we're working in, we try to create that workday atmosphere so it becomes a distraction for other players and they start talking about who's not here.

"But that's another challenge for us and I've said to the players that we will get disruptions and we will get things that aren't quite right this season but we have to deal with them when they come.

"It was a good test of character for us and we were able to put it to one side and come back from that early goal."