Curle will rotate his squad for FA Cup tie at Oxford City

Cobblers boss Keith Curle is likely to rotate his squad when they head to Oxford City in the first round of the FA Cup on Monday evening.

Curle has a number of players who have been short on game-time in the league, and Monday could be an opportunity to rest others ahead of another busy run of fixtures between now and the New Year.

Ricky Korboa, Chris Lines, Shaun McWilliams and Joe Martin did not even make the squad in Town's most recent outing against MK Dons, while Luka Racic and Steve Arnold have spent the last few matches warming the bench.

Town will not want to be the victims of an upset at Court Place Farm on Monday, especially as the tie is live on BT Sport, but Curle also accepts the importance of managing his players during a busy campaign.

"I've got players that need game-time and I've got players whereby it's not advisable that they play on the surface," said Curle.

"But we'll be competitive whoever we select. We have a small-ish squad but it's a competitive squad and within it there has been players who might not have played much and this is potentially an opportunity for them to get game-time."

Speaking about Oxford's 4G surface and the likely impact it will have on Monday's tie, Curle added: "It's not so much the game itself, it's two days after when you feel the affects but we have enough rest between the Monday game and the Saturday game for the players to recover.

"These surfaces now have completely changed. I remember when they first came out at QPR, Preston, Oldham, Luton and others. They've come on massively but even then I used to look forward to playing in those games.

"You do have to adapt slightly with your defending and with your ball mastery because it is slightly different. You don't get any bobbles and that's unfortunate for some players who like to use that as an excuse! But it's a game of football and the dimensions of the pitch will be exactly the same.

"We need to win and it's about having the right mindset and the right gameplan and executing that gameplan. We've got a forward-thinking mentality that won't change for this game."