Boothroyd: Waiting on signings makes our position stronger

STAYING PATIENT - Aidy Boothroyd, pictured here in Cobblers training at Northampton University on Wednesday, is happy to play a waiting game

Town have added just two new names to their squad so far this summer, midfielders Darren Carter and Ian Morris, with goalkeeper Matt Duke returning to the club on a permanent basis.

Ten players have departed Sixfields at the end of their contracts, with that number rising to 11 with the retirement from professional football of Clarke Carlisle.

Boothroyd accepts he still needs to make three more additions, with a striker, a utility defender and possibly a central midfielder among his targets.

But while there have been concerns from some supporters about the lack of transfer activity at the club so far this summer, the manager is confident the players that are in demand will not make their moves until later this month, and that agents are now beginning to panic about getting their clients fixed up.

“The past couple of days have been very busy, it’s gone up a level,” he said. “I think people are starting to realise that as of the end of the month their livelihoods finish and they need to get some certainty in their life.

“I’ve got a lot of what I want here right now and the little bits of the jigsaw that make it close to perfect will be cherry-picked by the club now.

“As every day goes by, we’re in a stronger position because of the nature of it this summer and I think we’re going to pick up a couple of really good players that will be really good value for money.”

The Cobblers play their first domestic friendly of the summer at United Counties League club Sileby Rangers on Saturday (3pm kick-off), and Boothroyd will run the rule over three trialists in the match.

Lateef Elford-Alliyu, JJ Hooper and Nigel Oldfield Spence-Neita all travelled to Croatia for the squad’s training camp and Boothroyd wants to see how they perform in a match situation.

“All three are still here and I’m going to have a look at them for a little bit longer,” he said. “They all worked very hard in Croatia.

“I want to see them in a couple of games as well and spend a bit more time on them to make sure I’m 100 per cent before I take any of them on.”