Defender Buchanan says Cobblers have to turn dominance into victories

Town have played well for much of the season to date, but had to wait until their fifth outing, at Colchester United last weekend, before claiming their first victory.

The 2-1 success was long overdue as far as Buchanan is concerned, and he now has his sights set on following that up with a second win against Tranmere Rovers at the PTS Academy Stadium on Saturday (ko 3pm).

“Now we have the first win on the board, we want to turn our dominance in games into more victories,” said the Cobblers left-back.

“We have back-to-back home games here (Town host Cheltenham next weekend) and we want to stamp our authority here.

“I always go back to the promotion season, and we were unbeatable here. And that is what we want to do again.”

Town’s two home games so far this term have ended in a 1-0 defeat to Lincoln and a 2-2 draw with Cambridge United.

Buchanan is adamant the Cobblers were hard done by in both fixtures, and added: “I think the performances we have put on have been very good.

“We dominated against Cambridge and battered Lincoln, but we got one point out of two games, and points are the most important thing, it’s what every supporter looks at.

“As a group of players, and a squad and the staff around the place, the environment is so positive because we know what we are doing out on the pitch.

“I think we are averaging 16 shots at goal per game, and last season we struggled to create a chance, and I do think somebody is going to get a hiding at some point.

“We want that first win at home.

“We want it for ourselves because we want to be difficult to play against here, and we want teams to come here knowing they walk through that front door and don’t leave with anything.

“That’s the mentality we need, and we want teams to fear coming here.

“But as well as for ourselves, we want to give our supporters something back and we need to get a win on the board at home.”

Saturday’s game has an extra significance for Buchanan, as he spent a season playing for Tranmere, and it was a time he enjoyed immensely.

Ash Taylor is another ex-Rovers man, and Buchanan is anticipating they and the rest of the Cobblers team are going to be in for a testing afternoon against a team that was promoted from the National League last season.

“It is going to be a difficult game on Saturday, and we know that,” said the 32-year-old, who played 44 games while at Prenton Park, in the 2011/12 season.

“I had a fantastic year there, and they have some great people at the club, and some great fans, and they are a big club.

“They are a bit like Lincoln in that they are used to winning football matches, and when you get on that run of winning games and getting promotion, you take it into the next season.

“They have started the season well, James Norwood has scored a few goals for them (he has five in five matches), and they will come here full of confidence, but they will also know our strengths.

“They will have had us watched on Saturday and whoever was at the game for them will have gone back and told them what a dangerous team we are.”