Coach Shane Goddard wants Northampton Town Under 18s to be competitive in their upcoming EFL Youth Alliance League South East campaign.
Josh Tomlinson scored the winner as the young Cobblers beat Kettering Town Under 18s 1-0 at home in their final pre-season friendly on Saturday morning.
Speaking after the match, Goddard said: “We’re looking for performances over results in pre-season.
“We didn’t really put in the performance that we wanted today.
“We’ve got to be better, and we’ve got a full week’s work ahead of next week.
“There’s lots for us to do and improve on, and we’re playing catch up due to our late start to pre-season.
“However, it’s pleasing to see that we won and that a young player was on the scoresheet.
“Also, the four Under 16s that played today all made a positive impact on the game.”
The youth team host Leyton Orient in their opening league fixture on Saturday.
Goddard added: “We’ll be as ready as we can be, and I know the boys will be up for making positive inroads into the league campaign.
“We want to be competitive and try to win every game.
“There’s been real positivity around the youth team over the last few years and we want to match that.
“My ultimate goal is getting the boys as close to first team ready as possible.”