Lintott admits he didn't expect to play so much after summer move to Cobblers

Teenage defender Harvey Lintott admits he did not expect to play as many games as he has done in the early stages of his Cobblers career.

The 19-year-old, who initially joined Town on trial in pre-season after his release from Gillingham last season, was signed with one eye on the future. However, injuries to other defenders, coupled with his own good performances, have provided him with plenty of opportunities.

The right-back has featured in 15 of Northampton’s 16 games across all competitions already this season, including 11 starts. He also scored his first senior goal when heading in the winner against Stockport County last month.

"If I'm completely honest, I probably didn't expect to play so much at this stage of the season,” Lintott admitted.

"But that's sometimes what happens in football. You don't know what will happen and you have to take your chance when it comes along.

"The staff have been very supportive and so have all of the other lads and I feel I'm gaining good experience and I’m improving with every game and that's what I want to keep doing."

Lintott played 84 minutes on Saturday as Cobblers succumbed to a second successive 1-0 defeat, beaten by Salford at Sixfields.

He added: "It was frustrating a day for us. I think on another day those chances that we had in the first-half go in so it's a bit unlucky but we just have to keep the faith and focus on the positives.

"We were wary of their quality on the ball but I felt we dealt with that quite well. I think they had the goal and maybe a header at the end but we limited them really well.

"When you do limit the opposition to so few chances and come away losing the game, it's really frustrating. We just need to look at where we can improve and not get too high or too low.

"It was a bit of a flat game and a chess match, figuring each other out, but unfortunately we didn't come out on top. At half-time we knew we needed to create more chances. We had plenty of the ball and passed it around but had no real edge in the final third, that's what we lacked, and we couldn't put our chances away.

"It's two defeats in a row so it probably looks worse than it is but if we can add that edge to our game and keep limiting the opposition to hardly any chances, we will get there."