Lee Evans 'definitely made the right decision' to join Cobblers after club 'waited a long time'

Evans was contacted by Northampton over the possibility of a deal early in the summer but the 32-year-old did not want to rush into a decision after his release from Bradford City. A former Wales international, Evans trained with the PFA for a couple of weeks as he weighed up his future - but eventually he put pen to paper on an ‘initial’ one-year deal last Friday.

"There was a lot of thinking over the summer and I wanted to take a bit of time and assess my options,” Evans explained after his debut against Leicester. “I've also got a young family and I've got things going on in my private life so I had to make sure the decision I made would be the right one for me and my family.

“I'm really happy with the decision I made, especially having now come in and seen how the manager works and seen the lads and the attitude of the group. I've definitely made the right decision.

"It was a very busy couple of days at the end of last week. I knew I would be on my way down on Thursday night and then Friday was busy, but I'm delighted to join the club and to get on the pitch and make my debut.

"Now it's about my repaying the faith that the manager and the club have had in me because they’ve waited a long time for me to sign. I want to go out and put in some good performances.”

A new signing will often reference the manager as a big reason for wanting to join the club, but it seems as if Chris Hogg, and specifically his style of coaching, was a particularly important factor for Evans.

"I spoke to the manager and he was a big draw if I'm really honest,” he added. “After my conversation with him, it was all positive and I really wanted to play for him.

"It was just how he sees football that did it for me to be honest. He sees it pretty similarly to how I like to play the game. I've been successful playing the way I have in the past and I think he wants to play that way.

"The club also speaks for itself. Last season obviously didn't go well but that's behind us now and it's for me now to try and come in and put my stamp on it and help the team have a positive year.”

Evans has made over 400 career appearances but he feels he’s got plenty left to give.

He continued: "I've had a lot of experience and I've been playing league football since I was 17 at Newport, which was a while ago, but I still have loads in the tank.

“I'm not 100 per cent fit, I'm a few weeks behind, but I'll catch up and I'm determined to have a really positive season and I'll be doing everything I can to help the boys.”

Reflecting on his debut against Leicester, Evans added: "There were lots of encouraging signs and I thought we had a really good shape.

“We had that chance in the first minute and that might have made it a different game but I thought we were resolute and we were organised and then it's just about having that little more quality on the ball and trying to make things happen.

"We got into a lot of good areas and those final bits of detail will come as we go into the season. “