Horsfall happy with Cobblers start but won't be getting carried away

But he is all too aware the team is very much just at the start of a long, long road.

With eight games played, Town are fourth in the table, having claimed a deserved point in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Swindon Town at Sixfields.

It is a good position to be in, but Horsfall says he and his team-mates won't be getting carried away.

“As a team I think we feel very, very solid and you can see that with the clean sheets we have kept, although we couldn’t get one on Saturday," he said.

“It has been a good start, but we just need to keep it going, and keep it going, because it is only early in the season and it is a long old campaign.”

Horsfall was the goal hero for the Cobblers last weekend, popping up with a crucial 83rd-minute equaliser to cancel out Tyreece Simpson’s 57th-minute opener.

Both teams had plenty of chances to claim all three points from a pulsating encounter, but it ended all square, and both managers admitted to a feeling of frustration that they hadn’t won the game.

Swindon were certainly a decent looking outfit, and played an attractive passing game, with Wales international Jonny Williams, Louis Reed and Jack Payne a very talented central midfield three that really stretched the pitch.

Horsfall admitted it was a tough game for him and the rest of the Town rearguard, and he has welcomed the fact the players have had a free week ahead of the trip to Greater Manchester.

“I think you could tell that in the last 15 or 20 minutes on Saturday it was tough,” said the former Macclesfield Town man.

“Swindon passed the ball and moved it well, so there was a lot of running to be done and there were a few tired legs in the team.

“So it is good to recover now this week, and be fresh for Saturday.”

This weekend will be another difficult encounter for Town, although Salford have not had the start to the season they will have been hoping for.

They will provide a different test to the slick passing game of Swindon, and Horsfall admits the many different strengths of the teams in League Two is a big challenge.

“There are a lot of different styles,” he said. “You will go from that last Saturday, to the way Salford play this weekend.

“There is a real mixture but it is a test we are willing to have a go at."

Salford will go into the game on the back of a 2-0 defeat at Tranmere Rovers last weekend, a result that left them 17th in the table.

Gary Bowyer's side have endured a very mixed start to the campaign, but they have won their past two home games, 1-0 against Bradford City and 3-0 against Newport County.