Byrom: Fleetwood clash a step into unknown for Cobblers

Joel Byrom believes Fleetwood Town are an '˜unknown' for the Cobblers ahead of Saturday's Sky Bet League One season opener at Sixfields.
Joel Byorm is looking forward to Cobblers' first game of the season (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)Joel Byorm is looking forward to Cobblers' first game of the season (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)
Joel Byorm is looking forward to Cobblers' first game of the season (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)

The Cod Army have gone through a tricky couple of weeks to say the least, with the sudden resignation of manager Steven Pressley, with the Scotsman being succeeded by Uwe Rossler at the weekend.

The former Brentford and Wigan boss is determined to be a hit at the Highbury Stadium, but he won’t even have a friendly in which to run the rule over his new players before they rock up at Sixfields on Saturday.

And although on the face of it that uncertainty should be a good thing for the Cobblers, Byrom isn’t so sure.

“You don’t know how they are going to be, and it is a little bit of an unknown for us now,” said the central midfielder.

“If the old manager was still there, at least you would have an idea of what way they are going to play, and the personnel that is likely to play, but now they will have a clean slate.

“That means we don’t really know what we are going to come up against, but hopefully the manager will have a plan in place for us and we have just got to take that into the game.”

A big plus ahead of the season opener for Byrom is that the Cobblers are on home soil, something that is a help as they try to open their league one campaign with a positive result.

“It is an advantage to have your first game at home,” said Byrom.

“Sixfields was brilliant for us all the way through last season, and hopefully it is the same this year.

“We will take a full house every week! The fans were great all last season, at home and in the away games.

“It was great at the end of the season with the open top bus parade, and hopefully they can keep that support going.”

Fleetwood are sure to provide tough opposition for the Cobblers this weekend, but as they were a team that only avoided relegation on the final day of last season, it’s fair to say the fixture computer could have been harsher for the opening weekend.

There are some big clubs and some talented players lying in wait for the Cobblers, and Byrom is one of a clutch of Town players that have played at the level before.

So what can he and his team-mates expect as they step up a level?

“If you make mistakes in league one, then you get punished more than you do in league two, and I think that’s the case every level you step up,” said the 29-year-old.

“We just have to be confident in ourselves, because we did win league two last season, we were the best team in that league, and we have to take that into this season.

“Hopefully the confidence and momentum we have will take us through.”