Kevin Nolan reveals why new signing Dean Campbell was one of Northampton's top targets this summer

The 24-year-old Scot has agreed a two-year deal with Cobblers after turning down a new contract offer at Barrow, where he spent the past two seasons and made 86 appearances. Campbell also played 74 times for Aberdeen and represented Scotland at every age group level from U14s through to U19s.

The left-footed central midfielder, a former Stevenage loanee, was linked with several clubs this summer, including at least two in League One, before making the decision to join Northampton.

“Dean is a player we identified very early as having the attributes we want to bring in and we have had some really good discussions with him,” said Nolan. "We believe his career is on an upward curve, he has two really good years at Barrow and we believe he is ready to make the step up to League One to continue his progress.

“Given the players who we released and the injury to Liam Shaw, I wanted to make sure we added a senior player into this position before the start of pre-season and Dean is that. He is experienced, he knows the position and what is required.

“He is good on the ball, he looks after it well and he can make us play. He can also handle the physical side of the game and he is a player we think we can work with to help make him even better. Being a midfielder myself, hopefully I can pass on my knowledge and experience to help Dean do that and that is something we look at with every new signing, whatever age or experience they may be.

"There was a lot of interest in him so it is a credit to the club that we have been able to make this signing and I am really looking forward to working with him."