Harrop 'really happy' to join Cobblers and sees move as a 'great opportunity' to get back on track

Cobblers new boy Josh Harrop believes his move to Northampton represents a ‘great opportunity’ to get his career back on track following a ‘difficult’ few seasons in the game.

The 26-year-old, who scored on his one and only appearance for Manchester United, will be desperate to impress at Sixfields having spent the past three months without a club following the mutual termination of his contract at Championship outfit Preston North End.

Harrop was in and out of the side last season before being sent out on loan to League One Ipswich where he played 15 times. When he returned to Deepdale, he was transfer-listed by manager Ryan Lowe before mutually agreeing to terminate his contract on deadline day. A period in the wilderness followed before a call from Sixfields.

"I don't really get involved with that sort of stuff,” said Harrop. “I'm just a footballer who wants to play football, but my agent rang me up and said that there was an opportunity to come down to Northampton and train with the club.

"I came down and trained for a couple of weeks and now I've signed a deal and I just see this as a great opportunity for me. After leaving Preston I took a bit of time to focus on myself and I made sure I was mentally right for where I want to be.

"I worked on my body because I want to make sure I don’t break down again and now is the right time to come here. I feel good and I'm really happy to have signed a contract with the club.

"With the uncertainty of not having a club for a while, you're not going to get something that's too long but my aim is to come in, push the team and push the lads and impress everyone and work as hard as I can.”

Injuries disrupted Harrop’s time at Preston but he believes he is in good physical condition to make an impact for the Cobblers. He would have been in the squad for Saturday’s trip to Harrogate Town had the freezing weather not intervened.

“I feel good,” he added. “I've done a lot of running over the last few months, which has been tough, but I've worked on my body and I feel I have got myself to a good level of fitness.

"It's always different when you come to actually playing games because it's a lot sharper and more intense so the body will need to adjust a little bit but I've had a couple of weeks training and the body feels good and I'm ready to go.

"It was frustrating not to play at the weekend but hopefully this week will be OK.”