Need for fresh energy prompted Hogg's decision to recall duo for Colchester victory
The need for ‘fresh energy’ was one of the reasons for Chris Hogg’s decision to recall Sam Hoskins and James Maxwell to the side for Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Colchester United.
Hogg had named the same starting XI for three successive league games prior to Colchester’s visit, a reflection of his team’s improving performances. However, despite being pleased with how Town played in the defeat to Tranmere on Tuesday, he opted to make a couple of changes against the U’s.
Maxwell came in at left wing-back, chosen ahead of Nottingham Forest loanee Josh Powell, while Hoskins replaced Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh in an attacking role. The decisions were justified as Cobblers deservedly won 2-0, with Hoskins one of the men on target.
"We wanted a bit of fresh energy in the team,” explained Hogg. “Maxy's going to be a key player for the club. Powelly has obviously been in the team and he's done really well since he came in.
"But when you look at the triple game weeks and you go Saturday to Tuesday to Saturday, it's about where and when you change it and what you do and we felt the core of the team deserved to play again, and to be honest Powelly and Joe deserved to play as well after their performances the other night.
"It was just an energy thing and trying to freshen it up a bit. We knew we would be able to bring on those players (Powell and O’Brien-Whitmarsh) at a certain point in the game and we knew their qualities would help us get over the line.”
Cobblers had over 60 per cent of the ball in the defeat to Tranmere but roles were reverse against Colchester. As they did so successfully against both Grimsby and York, Town were happy to cede possession and look to press aggressively and cause problems in transition, a strategy that bore fruit on several occasions, particularly with the second goal.
"If you look at the last four games, I think our out of possession work has been good and a lot of chances come from being hard to play against off the ball,” said Hogg.
“It's part of the plan every week. Colchester play some nice stuff but I felt relatively comfortable in terms of where they had the ball and what they did with it.
“Zach (Jeacock) obviously made a save in the first half and they had a couple of moments in the second half but in general I thought we were a solid and hard to beat team."