Guthrie says Cobblers' impressive defensive record is a team effort

Bar a brief interlude due to COVID, Jon Guthrie’s first three months at Sixfields could hardly have gone any better.

The experienced centre-back has featured heavily at both ends of the pitch in helping Cobblers rack up the clean sheets and climb up the table.

For a while, Guthrie was the club’s top scorer with three goals before being overtaken by both Sam Hoskins and Kion Etete at Tranmere Rovers on Saturday.

But it’s at the other end where he will ultimately be judged, and so far he is passing the test with flying colours.

Of the 13 league games the 29-year-old has started this season, Cobblers have kept eight clean sheets and conceded only nine goals.

Guthrie’s assured, calm presence at the heart of defence has been as important to that record as anything, but he believes it's very much a team effort.

He said: “Clean sheets and goals against are what we’re judged on as defenders so it’s a nice feeling to have the most clean sheets in the league along with Tranmere.

“The defenders and goalkeepers get a lot of credit but I think a lot of it comes down to how hard the team works as a whole.

“You see Kion leading it from the front, then Pablo (Paul Lewis) works so hard and then obviously we have the midfielders, especially Sowers (Jack Sowerby) and Shaun (McWilliams) in there who do so much work off the ball that maybe doesn’t always go noticed.

“We certainly notice it as defenders and we appreciate their work and that’s eight clean sheets for the season.

“The best teams keep a lot of clean sheets and it’s important if you want to be up there, which we do, so now it’s about keep doing what we’re doing and the clean sheets will keep coming.”

Whilst Guthrie’s right to point to a team effort, including goalkeeper Liam Robers, there’s no doubt his blossoming partnership with Fraser Horsfall is a big reason for why Cobblers can boast the joint-best clean sheet record in the whole EFL.

“I think it’s been a very natural fit with Fraser since day one and you don’t always get that,” Guthrie added.

“Sometimes it can take a while to click and to learn each other’s game but me and Fraser haven’t had that problem.

“He’s a very, very good centre-half and he’s well-respected within the group and he’s our captain at the moment so he’s a big leader in the changing room.

“Our games seem to complement each other and we gelled pretty quickly and I think that shows on the pitch."