Keith Curle happy with ‘credible’ Northampton draw

Posted Wednesday, October 03, 2018 by PA

Keith Curle was satisfied to kick-off his reign as Northampton boss with a ‘credible’ goalless draw against Bury.

Curle replaced Dean Austin as manager on Monday following the Cobblers’ heavy defeat at Mansfield, which left them perched just two points above the drop zone in League Two.

Tuesday’s stalemate was their second successive goalless draw at home but Curle saw positive signs from his new players as Sam Hoskins and Andy Williams missed their best chances.

“I thought it was a credible point against a good team,” he said. “There was an air of nervousness about the team at the start which is understandable and acceptable because I’ve not had one minute on the training ground.

“We had a couple of meetings with the players and I told them the requirements and my demands which I expect but I left them all today.

“They’ve just been turned over 4-0 and that led to the previous manager losing his job so there’s an element of responsibility labelled towards the players and they understand and know that.

“Today was an opportunity to put a foundation and a pillar in place. We didn’t play the prettiest football but there’s a professional understanding as to why they didn’t play free-flowing, entertaining football.

“We have to earn the right to express ourselves and today was a workmanlike performance. There were detailed roles and responsibilities within the team.

“After the first 10 minutes, we had the lion’s share of the chances and their goalkeeper might have been man of the match, which is pleasing, and a clean sheet gives us a platform.”

Bury boss Ryan Lowe was content to make it four points from two away games in four days after Saturday’s win at Colchester.

He said: “We said to our lads that it wasn’t going to be easy and Northampton had a go. They put a lot of big guys in the team and went back to front quite quick but we just needed to be a bit more calm in the middle of the pitch.

“When we got out we cut them open and we should have scored one or two goals but credit to the lads, they dug in there.

“You see the football we’re playing, we’re creating plenty of chances. We hit the bar from the corner, we hit the post later on and there were some good balls put into the box.

“Overall, I’m happy with the point. The performance could have been better but it’s a good point.

“We’ll always create chances, it’s just about putting the ball into the back of the net. To be fair to Northampton, they had a go and showed a reaction but they didn’t cut us open and we felt we were fitter and stronger and we went for the jugular at the end.”