Curle's a man with a plan as Cobblers gear up for the big kick-off

It’s a good thing that Keith Curle will be paying no attention to recent history when his side host AFC Wimbledon in Saturday’s Sky Bet League One curtain-raiser.

Not since 2015 have the Cobblers won their opening league fixture. Back then, John-Joe O’Toole’s second-half header was enough for Chris Wilder's side to see off Bristol Rovers and we all know what happened next.

Town have lost three and drawn one in the four intervening years, but Curle will be looking to break that duck this weekend.

“I’m not a big believer in what’s gone on previously,” he said. “We make our own history at this football club and we’re a part of our future.

“It’s something to look forward to and as I have said previously, we will be competitive. The selection for the team on Saturday is not complete yet, so there’s places up for grabs, but it’s the first game of the season and we will put out a competitive team.

“We’ve got a plan, we understand how we want to play. It is about recovery and then on Thursday we start working on our gameplan going into the game and the preparation starts.”

Saturday will mark Curle’s first League One game as a manager since 2013 when he was in charge of Notts County.

“It’s exciting,” he added. “There might be some twists and turns before Saturday’s game but as a football club, we’re looking forward to being competitive.

“The first game of a new season is always a big occasion. I looked forward to it as a player, I looked forward to it as a coach and I definitely look forward to it as a manager.”

Curle will face a few selection dilemmas for Saturday's game but not in the way he would have hoped.

Up to eight players could be missing, including key men Sam Hoskins, Nicky Adams, Harry Smith and Joseph Mills, but on the plus side, two new recruits should be available.

Joe Nuttall seems to have shaken off the knock he picked up in training while new boy Benny Ashley-Seal, who joined from Wolves on Monday, is fit and ready to lead the line in Smith’s absence.

“Benny needs to adapt his style of play into our style of play which will involve him facing the opposition goal more, but it’s about getting the right combination in terms of him understanding our fundamentals,” said Curle on his new 21-year-old striker.

“But Benny is a bright lad and he knows where the goal is and he knows how we want to play, and having spoken to him, he’s enthusiastic and he’s hungry and I like that.

“As a team, there will be times when we make the wrong decisions and we make errors but when things don’t go well, we’ve got a very adaptable, learning environment whereby we’re not critical – we learn.”