'It's right up my street' - Maxwell impressed by Hogg's training methods

The 24-year-old left-back had high expectations after speaking to the Cobblers boss prior to his Sixfields switch last month, and so far he has not been disappointed.

"I've loved it,” said Maxwell. “It's right up my street and I kind of knew what to expect in terms of the style of training after speaking to the gaffer before I came in. I love the detail side of football and learning new things and trying different concepts and ideas, on and off the ball, so I couldn't have really asked for much more so far.

"Obviously all the running is tough but that just comes with the territory and ultimately we are building a profile of team that we want to be. I feel we are progressing and developing towards a style of play and a structure rather than just putting 11 players on the pitch and hoping they play well.

"It's the detail and the tactical side of it that I love. There's loads of stuff that goes into football but if you can shut your eyes and picture what the game is going to look like, I think that really helps you and that’s what the manager does. That detail and clarity might give you an extra second on the ball on the pitch or it might put you in a better position when defending.

"The boys have been brilliant as well they've really welcomed me into the group, and there's a real positive atmosphere among everyone. The club have looked after us, they've put us up for a few nights each week, which has been a big help, and I couldn't have asked for much better and I'm really pleased to be here.”

Cobblers fans caught their first glimpse of Maxwell when he played the second 45 minutes of Saturday’s friendly against Leicester. The former Doncaster man was among the more eye-catching performers, with one lung-busting run leading to a decent chance, albeit one he slashed at.

"I thought I did OK,” he added. “I was raging with the shot I had, if you can even call it that! It's been a while since I've been in those sort of positions.

"First and foremost my job is defending and I think that's one of my strengths, my positioning and being tactically aware and having that understanding of the game, but I feel I've also got more in my locker going forward.

"I'm sure I'll be a bit sharper by the end of pre-season and have a cooler head in those situations, but I thought I did well defensively and our patterns on the ball will become easier for us.

"The first two weeks have mostly been off-the-ball stuff and that was probably a perfect game for us in terms of putting that into practice against a very good team. It gives us 90 minutes of footage to look back on and analyse and now we have a platform to go and get better as we go through pre-season.”

Stephy Mavididi set Leicester on their way to a 3-0 lead inside 22 minutes, but Town improved as the game went on and had chances to score themselves.

"It was tough,” admitted Maxwell. “The second half boys really dug in. They probably shouldn't be in the league that they're in with the quality they have but I thought we did well, especially in the second half.

"We kept our shape and blocked them through the middle, they found ways through at times and we needed a bit of last-ditch defending, but on the whole it was a good workout. We need to get better on the ball but we haven't worked too much on that and it's only the first game.

"There are definitely things we can be happy about and it’s just the little things like getting tight to people and getting used to contact again. Everyone comes back for pre-season in top condition these days but we have to iron out more tactical issues and stuff like that rather than anything physical.”