Smith hoping home will be sweet for the Cobblers as they kick-off against Walsall

Town take on Walsall in their opening Sky Bet League Two clash of the season at the PTS Academy Stadium (kp 3pm), and the former Macclesfield Town man can’t wait to get out there.

Signed for an undisclosed fee back in May, Smith has been waiting a long time to make his Cobblers debut, and he admits that he was hoping it would be in front of the Town faithful.

The fixture computer was kind in that regard as Cobblers kick off on home soil against the Saddlers, and the big striker says he and his team-mates must now make the most of it.

“When the fixtures were coming out I wanted to start at home and just get out in front of the fans, and hopefully get off to a good start,” said the former Millwall man, who netted for Macclesfield in their 3-1 defeat at the PTS in April.

“We are all confident we can do that, and we are looking to get those three points on Saturday.”

If Town were to do that this weekend, it would be a big relief for Smith, who experienced first hand last season exactly what a slow start to the season entails.

“You want to get your first win straight away, and the longer you don’t the more frustrating it is,” said the 24-year-old.

“Obviously at Macclesfield last season we had a bit of a wait for our first win, I think it was 13 games! Hopefully that will never happen again!

“So, yeah, the quicker you can get that first three points the better as it settles everybody down.”

Smith was on target as the Cobblers wrapped up their pre-season campaign with a 2-1 win over Milton Keynes Dons last Friday, and the striker feels it was the perfect way to head into the serious stuff.

“I can’t wait to get going,” he said. “We really showed what we can do last Friday against MK Dons, and if we can repeat that this Saturday then we will be really confident we can get a result.

“We said to ourselves before the match, ‘let’s treat this as the first game of the season’.

“I think at Brackley (Town lost 1-0 there the previous Tuesday) we were very once paced, it was laboured, and it was just boring to play in,

“So we said let’s get out there, treat it like the first game, and in the first five minutes let them know we are here.

“I think we did that, and dominated the game, and it was massive to get the result which puts us in good stead for Saturday.

“Walsall have just come down from league one, but you have to play everybody so it is best to get them out of the way to start with.

“We are confident we can beat anybody on our day if we perform, and we are looking forward to it.

“The summer has flown by, and pre-season has gone pretty smoothly overall.

“Results don’t mean much at this stage, so it has been good on the legs for the boys, good workouts, we had a good time in Spain, and I am just looking forward to getting going now.”

Smith is one of 12 new signings made by the club over the summer.

That has led to concerns that the squad might not have had enough time to gell, both on and off the pitch, but Smith says the team bonding has been excellent.

“It has been brilliant, and it has helped there have been a lot of new lads,” said the big front man, who stands at an imposing 6ft 5ins tall.

“We’ve not come into a settled side, there have been 11 or 12 new lads come in and we have all got to know each other.

“The Spain trip really helped us to bond together, there are no cliques or anything, and so far I think it is one of the best dressing rooms I have been in.”