‘Pretty impressive’ Brackley are gearing up for a bank holiday double-header

The Saints are unbeaten after four matches in the Vanarama National League North after they claimed a 1-1 draw at Darlington last weekend.

And, given the changes at St James Park over the summer including his own arrival as manager, Cowan is now urging his team to maintain their standards.

Brackley host rock-bottom Southport on Saturday before heading to Peterborough Sports on Bank Holiday Monday.

And the Saints boss said: “With 10 new players, we know it’s going to take time to create some cohesion between them when we have the ball.

“I think, to be at this stage where we are with a new group, is pretty impressive and if we’d had a bit of luck and refereeing decisions on our side it could have been more.

“It’s going to be a long old season and teams fluctuate throughout in terms of form.

“We have just played Darlington who didn’t have a point on the board and they seem to have found their feet and they certainly won’t be down there at the end of the season.

“There’s no easy games in this league and going into Southport and Peterborough Sports, we are going to have to be at our best.

“We have a couple of niggles so we are going to have to make sure we are looking after players this week and making sure everyone comes in fit.”

Summer signing Danny Newton scored for the third game in a row to give Brackley a sixth-minute lead at Darlington but they were pegged back by Will Hatfield’s free-kick just past the half-hour.

But Cowan was far from impressed with the circumstances leading to that free-kick.

He added: “It’s a really well-taken free-kick, you can’t argue that. It’s a great strike.

“But the free-kick in general, given against our captain Gaz Dean, was pretty farcical and reflects the inconsistency we are getting from referees.

“Everything the referee said he wanted to do on Saturday, he did the opposite.

“It’s not within our control. We just have to focus on ourselves and hope the tide turns for us in terms of these decisions not going our way.

“We could have had a penalty for handball in the first couple of minutes and decisions that changed the flow and momentum of the game didn’t really go for us.”