Boothroyd says Cobblers are ‘miles away’ from hitting their stride

Boothroyd gave a debut to on-loan Leicester striker Jacob Blyth, who scored in the 3-1 win over Newport County, along with Roy O’Donovan and Gary Deegan.

There were also Sixfields league debuts for five other players, giving the side a very ‘new look’ feel as they banked their first three points of the campaign.

And Boothroyd feels that, until the new players have acclimitised to each other and the squad’s injured players are available again, the team will not fully be in its stride.

“We’re miles away, absolutely miles away from where I want us to be,” he said. “We’re taking extra touches, people aren’t sure of their runs yet and that’s going to happen.

“This is where being a manager is very different from playing Champ Manager on the computer; you have to get everybody’s rhythms right and find out what is required.

“We’re not going to go flying away and start winning every week, that is not going to happen. I know people expect that but this is a new team.

“As soon as we’ve got everyone back and start working with them we’ll rack up back-to-back wins no problem because we’ve got better players than what we’ve had, it’s just a question of getting them all fit.”