Sampson is desperate to land the job on a full-time basis after the sacking of Stuart Gray and is confident he can kickstart the Cobblers season.

He said: "We have got a run of four games coming up against some good sides who hopefully we will be competing with to get promotion so it will be a good test for me and a good test for the players.

"There will be changes on Saturday. I've got my own ideas as to how the game should be played and how to motivate people. We have made a terrible start to the season, we need to find some level of consistency and at the moment we aren't doing that.

"I'm a fan as well as an employee. I've been here for 15 years now and I take it to heart as much as anyone when we're not winning games. I like the game to be played with passion and we will try and turn it around."

Sampson has also confirmed that on-loan winger Romone Rose has returned to parent club QPR.