Cobblers boss Keith Curle says the fact that Northampton Town are still in the Emirates FA Cup heading in to the new year is another sign of the upward curve as he prepares the squad for Sunday's third round tie away at League One side Burton Albion, (2.01pm kick off).
“It’s excellent for the club and the changing room to still be in the Emirates FA Cup and we believe we can be very competitive going into the game,” he said.
“We are taking fantastic support, everybody wants that glamour tie but as a team we don’t change our structure and we are very respectful whatever and whoever the opposition.
“Every team you play against has weaknesses as well as strengths and Burton will be no different.
“They are a very good team and a very good football club with a good identity and a good manager who has a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the game.
“They are not too dissimilar to ourselves and I think both clubs are very well run. They haven’t got ambitions above their status and they have an identity.
“We know that we can go there and be competitive, Burton have got a way of playing and an identity about them but so have we and it’s a fantastic game to look forward to.
“We think we can create chances against anybody and if we take those chances on our day we can beat anybody.
“We’ve got great delivery from the likes of Nicky Adams, Sam Hoskins and Michael Harriman and we have got players who can score goals.
“We need to be a little bit more ruthless with our opportunities, we know we are a threat from set pieces and a lot of our goals come from there but it is a part of the game and we have to use that to our advantage.”