Aidy Boothroyd wants to see his Northampton Town side continue to reach the high standards they set for themselves by beating Cardiff City in the Capital One Cup when the League Two campaign kicks off this weekend.
Goals from David Artell and Alex Nicholls helped the Cobblers come from behind to record a shock 2-1 win over last season’s League Cup runners-up, earning a home tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers in round two.
They now head to Rochdale for the first game of the 2012/13 league campaign on Saturday, and Boothroyd knows that his side cannot go into the game against the side relegated from League One last season with any complacency.
"I don't think it's bad to have your feet off the ground now and again,” he said, adding: “You have to enjoy moments like that but very quickly because of the nature of the league you've got a game to focus on, and that's what we'll do.
“The focus and the positive from the other night, we have to take into the next game and make sure we get the consistency. You only get the consistency by doing well on a regular basis, not being up and down, so that's the challenge now.
“The players have set standards and in order to win consistently you've got to keep to those standards, and if we do play like we did the other night on a consistent basis then we will win more than we lose.
"It's important that we realise every game presents a different and difficult challenge and we have to make sure that we are at our best for every game we play.”
Boothroyd is wary of the threats in the Rochdale side – particularly those posed by veteran striker Dele Adebola, as well as defensive duo Peter Cavanagh and the highly-touted Ryan Edwards, who is on loan at The Dale from Blackburn Rovers.
But the Northampton manager has a good idea of what to expect and he is confident that his side will be able to give John Coleman’s men plenty to ponder during the game.
Boothroyd said: "I don't know John that well, but I've played against his teams a couple of times and I know how they play.
“I know the wonderful job he did at Accrington Stanley, he's very well thought of there, and Rochdale will be there or thereabouts this year.
“We've had them watched three times in pre-season so we know what they're all about, we know they're a good start and they're on their home pitch so they'll want to get off to a good start.
“We want to get off to a good start and we see Rochdale as a marker for us. We're an evolving team; we're a team that's growing and learning, and getting better all of the time.
"We're going to have a variety of problems to deal with, but alternatively for them they'll have a few to deal with so it should be a good game."
