Turnbull: Little things are making a big difference for Cobblers under Curle

Town have won four of their seven games since Curle’s appointment on October 1, losing only once in that time, compared to just one victory in 12 across three competitions under previous manager Dean Austin.

Their most recent success came at the expense of Oldham Athletic on Saturday, giving them a total of 11 points from a possible 18 under Curle to move away from relegation trouble and push towards mid-table in Sky Bet League Two.

But Turnbull says there is no grand secret behind Curle’s success, rather it is a combination of several minor improvements that have been a significant overall difference.

“I think everyone can see the uplift and the confidence in the boys,” he said. “It’s a different style of play and we know we’re not going to get the ball down to play at every opportunity in every game.

“We look to put balls into good areas and the strikers are willing to run for the boys and the wide men are getting a lot of crosses into the box.

“We’ve also focused on set-pieces now and scored quite a few goals from them so there’s been a few little things that have all added to our game and the boys are putting in a really big effort each game.”

But Turnbull is not content to stop now with Cobblers bidding to maintain their good form against Crewe Alexandra this weekend and make up for their sluggish start to the season.

“We want to keep picking up points and wins and keep climbing the table,” he added. “It was nowhere near good enough how the team started the season in the first 10 games, for whatever reason.

“But luckily we have enough time to put it right and there’s still plenty of matches to go. We’ve started well under the new gaffer, the momentum is with us, the lads are confident and we’re just excited for the next game every week.”