Curle wants to see an improvement from Cobblers at Shrewsbury

Today's trip to Shrewsbury Town will be an opportunity for the Cobblers to show manager Keith Curle how much they’ve learned from their first-day draw with AFC Wimbledon.

While Curle was pleased with a point in the circumstances, he was quick to point out the flaws in Town’s performance as they twice fought back from a goal down to draw 2-2 on their first day back in League One in three years.

Where Curle will be particularly keen to see an improvement is at the back after Town’s three-man defence, made up entirely of new signings, encountered a few teething problems.

“We want to see improvements, in and out of possession, because there are things that we need to get better at,” said Curle.

“We’re creating an environment where we don’t want players to shy away from the truth when we give them information.

“We speak to them and we show them on video and pictures don’t lie so we want the players to be prepared to take onboard information.

“They can question us back and ask ‘if I’m there, why do you need me to be there?’ because that’s healthy.

“It’s not about banging them over the head with a stick, we’re helping them, we’re developing them and we’re improving them.

“That’s something we’re looking to create throughout the football club. There’s no fear factor and if you make a mistake, we accept it but you’ve got to learn from it.”

One thing Curle will not do is single out individuals for blame. When his side are faced with a problem, such as having three players turn up just 30 minutes before kick-off, they will face it together.

“Every point we gain at the start of the season is important and I thought the lads showed very good character on Saturday given the disruptions,” Curle added.

“But as we’ve said before, we will face challenges throughout the season and we want an environment in which the players see everything as a challenge.

“I was impressed and pleased with the mentality the players showed in the face of the challenges we had last week and that’s something we will continue to build and work on.

“We don’t want to be victims and we don’t want to have a blame culture. Things are going to happen but we know that and we’ll deal it.

“We are still bedding players in that are getting an understanding of the areas of the pitch that we want to play in. Yes, we have had disruptions with injuries and absentees but every club will get that and we won’t feel sorry for ourselves.”

Six players could again be missing when the Cobblers head to Shrewsbury but others are putting their hand up.

“We want to have competition for places and when players get the opportunity, they’ve got to take it,” continued Curle.

“Ricky (Korboa) and Matty (Warburton) have seen it as a chance and they’re staking a claim and they’re trying to keep the shirt and that’s what competition is all about.

“Nobody in the changing room is a guaranteed starter because when everyone is back fit and available, we’ve got strong competition and I will have some real headaches.”