Curle's desperate to welcome Cobblers fans back to the PTS

Keith Curle would dearly love to see the return of Cobblers fans next week so they can give his side an ‘extra yard’ on the pitch.

The government announced on Monday that football fans can return in low-risk areas when the national lockdown ends on December 2, with 4,000 supporters permitted into grounds in tier 1 areas, 2,000 allowed in tier 2 and nothing in tier 3.

Northants had been in tier 1 before lockdown was introduced at the start of November but the region is expected to go up at least one level, and perhaps all the way to the strongest set of restrictions, when the announcement on tier allocations is made at 11.30am on Thursday morning.

Should 2,000 fans be allowed to enter the PTS, it will likely be done on a rotation basis so one season-ticket holder would attend two in every three home matches.

“It would be a massive boost for us,” said Curle. “We’ve done a lot of work inside the football club to make sure we have a safe environment for fans to attend games.

“As professionals, we value the support that we get and that’s not only on matchdays because during the first lockdown I think we showed our appreciation as a football department and as a football club towards our supporters.

“Now what we need to do is get that union back together where they’re able to come and support their team because we’ve worked hard to give them a football team and a football club that they can be very proud of.

“We want them back in the ground, singing their hearts off and giving us that extra yard that we need at times.”

There is a possibility that Town’s League One fixture with Fleetwood Town, currently scheduled for December 1, could be moved back a day so fans, if they’re allowed to, can attend.

It's been almost a year since Shaun McWilliams last played in front of crowds due to his long-term injury lay-off.

He said: "It would be great to have the fans back, especially for teams like us because it helps gets you through games.

"It's massively important - it's been a long time for me since I've seen fans. It was back on Boxing Day when I got the injury when I last played in front of supporters.

"It's been a long time so I can't wait for them to be back."