Curle looking upwards as Cobblers find themselves in the ‘chasing pack’ for the play-offs

The Cobblers were 2-1 winners over Exeter City last weekend

A run of six games unbeaten, four of them victories, has seen Town cut the gap between them and the top seven to eight points with 10 matches of the season remaining.

The Cobblers host Newport County at the PTS Academy Stadium tonight knowing that a win, along with other results going their way, could see them climb as high as 10th.

It has been an impressive turnaround from the doom and gloom of the 4-0 home hammering at the hands of Colchester United last month, a result that had Town fans still fearing they would be involved in a relegation battle.

Well, the Cobblers are now a massive 18 points clear of second-from-bottom Macclesfield, and have their sights very much set on those teams above them.

Curle is beginning to sense there could yet be a push for the play-offs for his team in the next couple of months, but he is also delighted that his team is now closer to the automatic promotion places than the relegation zone.

“That was the conversation I had with the chairman after the game on Saturday,” said the Cobblers boss.

“The chairman said ‘we are so many points off the top seven’, and I said we are 18 points off the bottom two, that’s the first thing.

“Then, by the way chairman, we are now 17 points off the top three, and that is a positive.”

So can Town make a late play-off charge?

“We are in the chasing pack, and we know that sometimes teams up at the top will looking over their shoulder,” said Curle.

“Year in, year out, somebody comes from without the leading pack and gains that momentum and carries on and gains success.”

Curle has been very happy with how his team has performed over the past five or six weeks, but there will be no resting on laurels as he believes ‘there is more to come’ from his playeres.

“There is a good identity and a buoyant dressing room at the moment, with lots of positives,” said the Town manager.

“You do get that from winning, but the we are still looking for levels of improvement throughout the squad.

“We are still challenging the players individually and collectively, because we still think there is more to come.

“That’s the environment we are trying to create, in yes we have won a game, but there are still more games to win.

“There are still different ways to win a game, still elements of improvement we can make throughout every game we play.

“We are never going to be faultless, so we know we can improve.”