Kevin Nolan explains why 'really poor decision' by EFL may force Cobblers to wait for signings

Unlike in previous years, when all three EFL leagues have started on the same weekend, a week prior to the top flight, this season's League One and League Two kick-off on August 2nd, followed by the Championship on August 9th, and then the Premier League another seven days later.

That has caused significant disruption for all tier three and four clubs who are still assembling their squads as new the campaign approaches, with many relying on loans from the top two divisions. Nolan made his feelings clear at the end of last season when he accused the EFL of making a ‘really poor decision’ to stagger the leagues, adding: “This is where the EFL have got it totally wrong and it’ll be really tough on League One and League Two clubs especially.”

And with Cobblers still yet to sign a striker this summer, it seems Nolan’s fears have been realised. Asked for an update after Tuesday's friendly against West Ham, he said: "If I'm being honest, the difficult thing for us is that the Championship starts a week later and the Premier League starts two weeks later so all those clubs are two weeks behind in terms of where they are in their pre-seasons.

"They'll all be going off to America and Asia in the next week and that's no good for us because we'll have to wait and it might be the end of the window when we see a lot of outgoings from the Premier League.

"Normally you'd see those players go out earlier and you might get them for the first game of the season or the second game, but now it might be the third, fourth or fifth. The league hasn't helped us in that respect.

"That's made it hard. We're looking at the lads out of contract but half of them get snapped up quickly. We've got to see where we're at and what we're doing, but it's not for the want of trying.”