Hogg wants Cobblers to be 'protagonists' and play on the front foot

Hogg will oversee his first league game as Northampton manager - and his first competitive match at Sixfields - when Swindon Town visit for Saturday’s League Two curtain-raiser.

“We have a group of players who I know can go and compete at this level,” said Hogg. “It’s not about the opposition, it’s about what we do and what we implement and the spaces whee we can hurt the opposition and spaces we need to protect.

“For me, I want us to be protagonists and go into each the weekend with the same mindset. Obviously we understand Swindon have their strengths, as does every team, but we want to impose ourselves on them.

“They’ll be exactly the same, every team has their strengths so it’s not ground breaking, but we have a group of players who have adapted really well over the last seven weeks and our job is to get some more help with a bit of quality and support and depth.”

Reflecting further on last weekend’s cup defeat, Hogg added: "I thought it was a good performance against Leicester. We didn't get the result we wanted but I felt it was a positive day for the club, especially with how the supporters backed us.

"There were lots of positive signs and our job is to keep getting better day to day, week to week and month to month. That was a good starting point but League Two games are going to look very different to what we faced against Leicester.

“Some teams play football but spaces are bigger and it's about duels and second balls and earning the right to control. It was good from a physical point of view and we showed good character in the game but we're very aware that Saturday will look different.”

Cobbles found some promising positions against Leicester but only had four shots in the game.

"Decisions are everything,” Hogg continued. “The lads got into good areas and we've spoken about how we can execute and hurt the opposition.

"We want to get into those areas with more frequency and the focus this week has been building on the good stuff from pre-season and going into the league campaign full of energy.”

On facing Swindon, he added: “Swindon have done well at this level, they had a good season last season, and I think they'll be right up there again. We're going to face a good quality team with loads of energy and physicality and they'll want to be on the front foot.

"We have to be ready for that and it's about us trying to impose ourselves on them and making it a game that we want, not them. Pre-season games give you a marker but there's nothing like going into a proper game and seeing where we're at.”