Northampton Town were left frustrated on transfer deadline day after two agreed striker deals collapsed in the final hours of the window, leaving Kevin Nolan short of the attacking reinforcement he had been openly seeking.

Northampton had made no secret of their intention to add firepower during the closing stages of the window, with Nolan keen to bring in at least one forward to bolster his options. While deadline day did deliver the arrivals of Nottingham Forest youngsters Kyle McAdam and Ben Hammond, neither signing addressed the need for a recognised striker.

Speaking after Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw at Barnsley, Nolan confirmed the Cobblers were close to landing two forwards, only for both moves to unravel late on for very different reasons.

“We were delighted with the two lads we brought in and we were hoping to bring in a couple more on deadline day,” he said. “We were talking to two strikers and we were working right until the last minute to get them done.”

One of those deals was caught up in the familiar chain reaction that often defines deadline day across the divisions. As Nolan outlined, a move higher up the pyramid failed to materialise, preventing the player from being released to join Northampton.

“Unfortunately one wasn’t allowed to come out and that was down to the knock-on effect. The Championship has to wait for the Premier League and League One has to wait for the Championship. Because the club we were speaking to didn’t get what they wanted, the player wasn’t allowed to come to us, which was disappointing.”

The second deal, however, fell through in far more unusual circumstances, with Nolan revealing a simple administrative error proved decisive.

“Another one forgot to sign the Docusign we sent to them, would you believe, and we weren’t able to get the extension for it, which was gutting. We were incredibly frustrated, as frustrated as everyone else was.”

Despite missing out on attacking additions, Nolan was keen to strike a note of confidence in his current squad, pointing to a collective approach to goalscoring rather than reliance on a single forward. He also referenced the way Northampton found the net at Oakwell, with contributions coming from deeper areas of the team.

“But I really believe in the squad here. I’ve always felt that to be a successful side you have to share the goals around. We had two defenders popping up with vital goals tonight and we need to have goals all over the team.”

Internal solutions

With the window now closed, Northampton must rely on internal solutions and adaptability as they look to push on in League One. The frustration for Nolan is not just that the Cobblers missed out, but that the club were close enough to have deals agreed, only for late details, and in one case a basic piece of signing procedure, to swing the outcome.

This was also the case in the summer – the Cobblers didn’t have a great window, and it sadly shows the chasm between the haves and the have-nots at this level.

For Northampton, the challenge is clear, they now have to turn those near misses into a positive by finding goals from across the side, while the squad settles and the new arrivals bed in, even if they were not the forwards Nolan hoped to add.