Richards 'loving' the extra responsibility as Cobblers prepare for Peterborough tie

Richards and current interim boss Ian Sampson worked alongside Brady as part of Town’s first-team coaching staff prior to the Aussie’s decision to step down last week.

Sampson has since taken on the role of interim manager while the club ponder their options moving forward, with Richards effectively his number two.

"I’m loving it,” said Richards. “It’s a new thing for me to be an assistant manager so it’s been a bit different and I’m really enjoying it.

"Sammo’s off today (Monday) for family reasons so I stepped up and took training fully and worked on our shape ahead of the Peterborough game. It’s the first time I’ve done that and I’m really enjoying that side of it."

On the flip side, Richards knows it’s a precarious time, especially if the club decide to make an external appointment.

"It’s an unnerving time because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” admitted Richards. “All we can do as a group of staff is keep doing what we’ve done every single day. There might be chinks in our armour but we work together as a unit to not allow those chinks to become big chinks.

"We work hard as staff and we pull each other through. If we do go with this group of staff until the end of the season, we will absolutely give it our all and I have no doubt the players will be onside with that as well because we have great respect for them and I think they have great respect for the staff too.”

Cobblers head to Peterborough Untied for an EFL Trophy tie on Tuesday and Richards says they will look to strike the right balance between trying to win the game whilst also giving minutes to players who are short on game-time.

"It’s exciting because we want to be up against our rivals,” he added. “We thrive off that as staff and it brings a spice and an edge to the game.

"We are very respectful of the competition and we will be as strong as we can be knowing that we’ve got a big game in the league on Saturday.

"It will be an opportunity for certain players to get some minutes but we’ll also use it as a chance to create momentum for other players so we’ll play a strong group and we’ll give it our all.

"We want to win and there’s no better opponent to turn things around a little bit. It’s a really good game for us and it’s a good game for the lads who haven’t played too much to showcase what they can do.

"Peterborough have really talented players and they have an amazing front line. They’re strong and quick and direct and can score goals for fun but there’s certainly weaknesses in their side and we’ll try to exploit that as much as we can.”