Ex-Killie duo Pinnock and Kabamba played a big role in McGowan's move to Cobblers

Former Kilmarnock duo Nicke Kabamba and Mitch Pinnock both played their part in Aaron McGowan following suit and swapping Rugby Park for Sixfields this week.

Kabamba and Pinnock were the first two players to sign for the Cobblers this summer and both joined the club following spells north of the border with SPL outfit Kilmarnock.

Two others - Dylan Connolly and Jon Guthrie - also joined from Scotland before McGowan, who played 20 times for Killie last season, was confirmed as Town's 10th summer signing on Monday, agreeing a two-year deal.

"That's actually how I first became aware of the interest," McGowan revealed after his move was confirmed. "I heard about three or four weeks ago that they were interested and that was obviously out of my hands.

"But I was close with Mitch and Nicke at Kilmarnock and they were telling me that Martin Foyle and others were all over them trying to get my number!

"But that's another positive because it makes you feel wanted on a more personal level, certainly more so than you might normally get, so that also played a big part

"I know Martin Foyle from his time in Scotland and he's someone that's always been liked - I think he actually tried to sign me from Motherwell a few years ago before I went to Kilmarnock.

"I had an indication of the interest and when he came to Northampton I thought it might be a good fit. I'm just looking forward to getting going now."

The 24-year-old right-back has played in League Two previously having debuted as a 16-year-old with Morecambe eight years ago, but he's already set his sights on the third tier.

He added: "Everybody knows what happened to this club last season but I've played against Northampton in this league before and they're a team that has probably yo-yoed between League One and League Two.

"Now we want to build something here where we have a foundation to win promotion and then stay at the next level because we don't want to keep going up, down, up, down.

"I think that's something the manager is trying to build with this squad and that's something I wanted to be part of."