Cobblers players’ belief delights assistant boss King

Cobblers assistant manager Andy King said the team’s win over Rochdale was made all the more pleasing by the away side’s strong performance.

Town won 3-1 against a resilient Dale outfit, with Clive Platt, Kelvin Langmead and Adebayo Akinfenwa on the scoresheet in a win that puts the club sixth in npower League Two.

It is also their eighth success in the past nine home games and represents an 11th league win at Sixfields this season.

Rochdale put up a fight, though, and Lee Nicholls was required to make an excellent save from George Donnelly moments before they grabbed an equaliser through Jason Kennedy.

Northampton made an immediate response through Langmead’s goal and Akinfenwa helped the team power over the line.

“Without a doubt they (Rochdale) played well,” said King, who was on post-match press duties in place of manager Aidy Boothroyd. “They are a good, footballing side and they played extremely well in the first 20 minutes.

“They caused us a lot of problems and that gave us a lot of satisfaction, knowing we handled that and that we contained it before scoring the first goal.

“They had periods of the game where they had a lot of the ball but I thought they never really threatened us that much and I always thought we’d score.”

The win, King felt, was indicative of the belief the players have on their own ground, a defeat which is not without foundation - the Cobblers have only lost one Saturday afternoon game at Sixfields in almost 10 months.

But there is a need to translate the home form to the team’s away performances, and King is fully aware of the need for the team to start believing on their travels.

“At home the players have a belief they are always going to win and so I always thought we’d get back in front even after they equalised,” he said.

“But we must start to have that same belief away from home. All we need is that away win, I don’t know why we can’t do it away but it’s all about confidence.

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