Pressley set for Sixfields return

Town boss Pressley was manager of Coventry City when they spent the 2013-14 eason ground-sharing at Sixfields while in dispute with the owners of their Ricoh Arena home over rent.

Pressley says it will be a challenging game against the Cobblers but he does not read too much into the fixture list.

He told The Gazette: “I spent half of my time at Coventry playing at Northampton, so it will be very familiar.

“Their pitch will be of real quality in August and it’s an interesting opening fixture.

“You can talk about good fixtures, but ultimately there are no good fixtures if you don’t get good results.

“Last season we probably got our best run of results in what you could describe as our most difficult set of fixtures, so I don’t read too much into it.”

Town will face Leeds United for the first time in their history after being drawn at home to the Championship club in the first round of the rebranded EFL Cup (week starting August 8).

Town fell at the first hurdle in that competition (the League Cup) and in the FA Cup last season.

And although they came within one tie of Wembley in the EFL (formerly Johnstone’s Paint) Trophy, Pressley is targeting longer cup runs in his first full season in charge.

He said: “One of the things I think we can improve on is our form in the cup competitions.

“This season I would love to have a run and make an impact in them.”

“The Leeds game is a fantastic fixture.

“In terms of the prestige of the opponents we could have got in the cup, they are up there.

“It is an exciting fixture but we want to progress.”