Stuart Gray said it was good to play and score goals against a UK Servicemans XI on Tuesday afternoon, even if the game was a bit of a mis-match. The Cobblers won the unofficial friendly 9-0 at their training ground on the Dutch-German border.

"Nothing beats playing, particularly when you are winning and scoring goals and although the game was only really an extended training session for us, the lads would always prefer to play rather than train," he said.

"With the game at Brackley and then on Monday we had had two games in four days with a fair bit of travelling and training to fit in as well so we were looking for a fairly gentle run out and that is what we got.

"It's fair to say the sides were not particularly evenly matched but for the strikers it is good to play and score goals, whoever the opposition. That will have given them confidence, and to keep another clean sheet shows that we are organised and defending properly.

"A number of the lads got more football under their belts and that is the main aim of this trip.

"We had 8 different scorers and that was good. You need the goals to be spread around and to score goals you need people making runs, getting into good positions and showing the bravery required so all of those who got off the mark in this game will feel better for it.

"Bayo got some more match time and so did Chris Doig and Mark Hughes. Again we got through without any injuries, we showed a good, professional attitude and I was pleased with the way we went about our business.

"It is back to the training ground now before Thursday night, and we will be looking to end the tour on a high note and keep making strides forward."