Ross Fitzsimons could become Kevin Nolan's new number one after impressive debut display
Ross Fitzsimons will have an opportunity to further enhance his claim to be Kevin Nolan’s first-choice goalkeeper after he took full advantage of an unexpected opportunity against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
Lee Burge, into his fourth year at Sixfields, started the season as number one between the sticks and he hardly put a foot wrong in the first eight league games of the campaign, keeping four clean sheets, but a hip injury has opened the door for Fitzsimons.
The 31-year-old joined Cobblers in the summer and performed excellently in cup ties against Southampton and Chelsea Under-21s, and then gabbed his first opportunity in League One with a faultless display at the weekend.
His handling was rock solid throughout and he made one particularly outstanding stop when denying Marcus Forss early in the second half – a save described as ‘unbelievable’ by Bolton manager Steven Schumacher – but it was also his distribution that caught the eye, helping create Cameron McGeehan’s opener with a stunning 80-yard pass to Joe Wormleighton.
With Burge not expected back for another couple of weeks, Fitzsimons will have at least one more opportunity to stake his claim – and he’ll be a hard man to drop if he replicates the performance he produced against Bolton.
"I'm delighted for Fitzy,” said Nolan. “He came here to be number one. He had a really fantastic season with Scunthorpe and he was a big part of their team that won promotion – I think he finished the season with 28 clean sheets.
"I've worked with him before and I knew his quality and I knew what he would bring to us. He's a different goalkeeper to Burgey but I think that's a good thing and the best thing about it is they are pushing each other.
"Burgey was here watching today to show his support to Ross, and Ross showed his support for Burgey when it was the other way around. They are backing each other and supporting each other and driving each other to be better.
"I thought he had a fantastic game against Southampton and he was really good again on Tuesday and today was his league debut and he was very solid. He was calm, he made saves when we needed him and he also set us off on counters a few times, which was nice, and I think that's hopefully something we will see more of in the future.”