Kevin Nolan had a huge role to play in Conor McCarthy's decision to sign for Cobblers

The Irish centre-back, released by Barnsley last season, agreed a two-year deal on Monday. He was Town’s eighth summer signing at the time but that’s since become nine following the arrival of Tyrese Fornah.

"I'm absolutely delighted to have signed a contract with Northampton and it feels great to get it over the line,” said McCarthy. “It was so important to get it done before pre-season.

"You don't want to be out of the game as pre-season goes on. You want to be involved with the lads and now it's a chance for me to get to know my new team-mates. It's great to get it done so soon.

"I feel like this is a club that's moving up the league and that was one thing attracted me here – it was the project that everyone is buying into. You look at the stadium with the new stand, it shows the club is moving in the right direction. The ownership is stable and everyone here should be looking at pushing up the league.”

On how Nolan impressed him, McCarthy added: "It stems from what he was like as a player. He's very honest and that's all you want as a player. To hear him speak so highly of me and what I can bring to the club was really good.

"He sees me as someone who's dominant and who can bring leadership qualities but also bring quality on the ball. He felt he came in to steady the ship last season but now he wants to build on that and hopefully I can be a big part of that.”

McCarthy got stuck in with his new team-mates this week as pre-season training started at Moulton, adding: "It's like the first day of school all over again. It was really good to meet everyone and all of the lads are sound. It's never easy to come into a new changing room but we're all on the same page and we all want the same thing.

"There aren't going to be any easy days in pre-season and it's not been an easy start because we've got straight down to work, but I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to more.”