Platt says Northampton Town have to improve on ‘abysmal away form’ next season

Town had the second weakest away record in league two during the 2012-13 campaign, winning just four games as their promotion bid was undermined by a constant travel sickness.

Platt, who started the play-off final defeat to Bradford and is under contractual wraps at Sixfields for the next 12 months, is well aware that changes must be made on the road.

“Overall I think it was a great season, to get into the play-offs is always a big achievement and then to get to the final is an even bigger one,” he said.

“It was just a shame we couldn’t finish the job off and get that promotion that we all wanted.

“No one enjoyed losing at Wembley, fans, players, staff, and no one is happy with staying in the same division and missing out on the overall goal which is promotion.

“A lot of progress has been made this season though, we had a great home record, some terrific wins and we had some terrific away followings.

“We’ve obviously still got some stuff to work on, our away form was abysmal and if we can improve on that and maintain our home form then hopefully next season will be even better for us.”

Platt’s preparation for the play-off final was limited and he played just 55 minutes of it before being replaced by Adebayo Akinfenwa, who has since been released.

The 35-year-old centre-forward had a long-standing back injury for much of last season and finished the campaign with a calf strain that saw him ruled out of training for the final month of the season.

But Platt is hoping to come back fully fit for pre-season training in three weeks’ time.

“The injury I picked up towards the end of the season came at a really annoying time, we had a couple of scans and really it was an injury that needed more time to heal than the games really allowed,” he said.

“Everything was a bit rushed and the injury definitely came at a bad time for me but hopefully it’s something I can work on over the summer and I can play a few more games next

season.

“Being on the sidelines is hard for any player and you are just in the hands of the physio and the coaching staff to get you right.

“I’ve got my summer fitness program and I will be speaking with Stuart Barker and Craig Smith to try and make sure that next season I’m available for selection for a lot more games.”