Kieron Bowie's rave reviews convinced Dibley-Dias to sign for Cobblers

That's because it was the Scottish striker's rave reviews of life at Sixfields that played a key part in paving the way for fellow Fulham youngster Matt Dibley-Dias to sign for the club on a season-long loan.

New Zealand-born Dibley-Dias has put pen to paper on a 12-month stint at the Cobblers, who fought off competition from a number of other EFL clubs to win the central midfielder's signature.

And a big part of the reason the highly-rated player chose to head to Northampton for his first taste of senior football was the positive reaction he got about the club from Bowie, as well as Town's excellent reputation for developing young players.

Bowie spent two years on loan at Sixfields, making 85 appearances in the claret and white and winning promotion from Sky Bet League Two along the way, and Dibley-Dias said: "I spoke to Kieron quite a bit before coming here.

"I spoke to him about the club, the manager, everyone here, and he had nothing but positive things to say. That showed how good the club is.

"I also took a look before at the young players the gaffer has developed, and obviously Kieron had a good time here.

"I had quite a positive conversation with the manager and after that it made my head straight and I knew I wanted to come here."

So how did the move to Sixfields come about?

"Last year I was playing for Fulham Under-21s and we had quite a good season," said Dibley-Dias, who captained the Cottagers youngsters to Premier League Cup success.

"When the season was finished, and after my break, I had a few calls from my agent talking about possible clubs I could go to on loan to get some first team football.

"Northampton was one of them, and when I got told about that I was quite happy. We got the meetings done and then I spoke to the gaffer, and now we are here.

"I feel like right I am ready to take the next step and make the jump to first team football, so I am quite excited to see how it goes."

Dibley-Dias' experience of men's football so far is limited to two appearances in the EFL Trophy last season, skippering Fulham's U21s as they drew 3-3 at Portsmouth and 2-2 at Leyton Orient.

He can expect to get a lot more playing action this coming season, so what can the Cobblers fans expect to see from their new loan signing?

"I am a midfielder, I like to win the ball back and try to make things happen," said Dibley-Dias. "I like to dictate some of the play, and I would say I am a positive player."

A New Zealander with a Brazilian father, Dibley-Dias moved to England as a young child so is in a position where he has four nations to pick from if he makes the step up to international football.

Brazil, Portugal and England are his other options aside from the land of his birth, and it was the All Whites who made the first move last season - although his chances of an international debut were scuppered by injury.

"I got called up by New Zealand in October last year, and I was going to play," said Dibley-Dias, who was born in Lower Hutt in Wellington.

"In training I got injured and pulled my hamstring which was a bit unfortunate, but it was definitely a show that all of my hard work is paying off."

Another sign of that hard work paying off is his move to the Cobblers and the fact he will be playing competitive football in front of big crowds this season, and he is keen to make a positive impact.

"The club seems like it is on the up, everybody is happy and it is vibrant," he said. "Hopefully I can contribute to the upward curve."