Cobblers boss Keith Curle was a happy man as he reflected on Tuesday night’s EFL Trophy win over Southampton under 21s, Benny Ashley-Seal (2) and academy graduate Caleb Chukwuemeka among the goalscorers in a 5-0 victory.
“This game came at the right time for us, we’ve got players coming back from injury now and those players needed minutes on the pitch,” he said.
“The conditions were very difficult but it was excellent to get game time for some of those players and I think they acquitted themselves well and made it a decent spectacle.
“Centre forwards like to score goals and I thought both Benny and Caleb looked bright.
"I left Caleb with the academy at the start of the season because I wanted to see that hunger from him to get into the first team, we want to create an environment here where there is that hunger and desire to learn, develop and improve.
“Caleb wants to learn and he has integrated very well with the group. He will score goals but there is more to his game than just being a goalscorer and that is something we want to develop.”