Dyche pleased with his progress but wants more starts for Cobblers

Young defender Max Dyche says he just wants to ‘play as many games as possible’ for the Cobblers following his first league start of the campaign at Stockport County on Saturday.

The 20-year-old, who came through the youth ranks at Sixfields, has become a regular member of the first-team squad this season with 16 appearances in all competitions. He made only two throughout the whole of last year.

Four of those appearances have been starts and he made only his third league start in total at Edgeley Park when drafted in at the last minute after captain Jon Guthrie pulled out due to illness.

Dyche did well in the circumstances but it was a frustrating afternoon for both him and the team, who were beaten 2-0. Antoni Sarcevic scored Stockport’s opener and the second has now gone down as a Jack Sowerby own goal.

"We feel a bit frustrated because we had a few chances and their goalkeeper has pulled off a couple of great saves,” said Dyche.

"It's two poor goals again from our perspective, we should be dealing with them, but we can't be too down on ourselves, we've only lost three of the last 13 and we're still in the top three.

"It's a good position to be in even with all the injuries. Our depth is going to be tested but it's a bump in the road and we will pick ourselves up and keep moving forward.”

On a personal level, Dyche was happy to be given another chance to show what he can do.

"It was my first league start of the season and I just want to play football,” he added. “I love playing football so any chance I get I am going to try and take.

"I've played a lot more than I did last season and for me, personally, it's just about playing as many games as possible, especially at my age.

"I see every game and every training session as a a learning experience and this (losing to Stockport) is another one of them. Yes, it was tough and it's a rubbish feeling when you lose but it's just part and parcel of football.

"Every time we have a game, I want to get on the pitch and I want to be playing. I want to be at it and I want to keep improving so every day is a learning curve and this is another tough one."