The question everyone is asking - Where have all the strikers gone?

Cobblers did not have a single fit, recognised centre-forward two days before the first game of the season – despite having already signed 11 players in the summer.

The club did complete a loan deal for Manchester United youngster Ethan Wheatley 24 hours prior to kick-off at Wigan, but he remains the only natural striker to join this summer, and they are not the only team short on firepower.

"There are definitely not as many strikers out there this year,” said Nolan. “When I worked with the FA we looked at the whole of the country and it's very rare that you get number nines coming through these days.

"Harry Kane is probably the last one. Ollie Watkins now plays through the middle but he started out on the left so it's tough to find that one because every club is looking for the same thing and there's not many available.

"You ask anyone in the league and if you speak to any manager after a game, they all tell you they want a forward and that's what they're looking for and the profile is probably the same as us.

"We feel we have unearthed one in Ethan and I feel he will be one who'll surprise a few this season, but we need to be careful with him because he's still in his developmental phase and he's learning about league football.

"He's just gone Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday and he's probably never done that before in his life. There are all learning experiences and we have to make sure we get the most out of our players.”

The return of Tom Eaves is a big boost for Nolan, and keeping him fit for the rest of the season will go a long way to determining Town’s chances of success.

"We now have Tom back fit and we've worked him really hard,” Nolan added. “He had a very stop-start season last year and we want him to continue to work his socks off because it's important for someone of his size.

"I know that because I'm his size and if you want to get the best out of yourself, you have to be in the best physical condition to go and go again and he hasn't been able to do that.

"A lot of that is not through his own fault because he had an unfortunate injury when I came in, but he’s back now and I thought he looked in great condition at the weekend and now we can expose him to more minutes.

"Tom coming back will also help Ethan because Ethan won't have to play all of the time. We have good mixture between them and they are two different types and maybe we'll see them together at some point. Then you add (Elliott) Listy and Sam Hoskins to that and I've got a strong array of attacking talent with different types of players.

"If we can add to that before the deadline, then perfect. But it would only be a player that we want and it's got to fit our profile first and foremost. We'll see what happens in the final few days but we'll be active right up until the deadline.”