Jon Brady has revealed the latest on his striking department’s injury headaches as Northampton Town prepare to play local rivals Kettering Town.
The Cobblers have injuries both up front and in defence, with their recent clash against Lincoln City providing fresh concerns for the Australian boss to handle when they welcome Kettering to Sixfields.
Two Out, One Doubt
Their trip to Sincil Bank started poorly even before a ball was kicked, with star forward Sam Hoskins failing to make the squad, and now has been confirmed as an absentee for tomorrow evening’s clash. Their fears were compounded when Tom Eaves was forced off the pitch just five minutes after coming on and starting striker Tyler Roberts was dismissed with 15 minutes to play.
“Sam certainly won’t be available. Tom took quite a bad facial injury the other night and we’re not quite sure on him at the moment.
“We’re hugely stretched but there’ll be opportunity for others and what we’ve been good at over the last few years is finding a way.
“With the squad we have available, they have performed very well over the last couple of weeks so we need to make sure everyone is ready to go on Saturday.”
Their opponents are currently top of the Southern Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football. Town are the record goalscorers in the FA Cup, their 920 goals eclipsing Tottenham Hotspur’s total by seven.
Writer’s View
Northampton Town will only have three recognised forwards in their senior squad this weekend. It is certainly a less than ideal situation, especially with Tyler Roberts’ absence due to a red card making the options even less threadbare. It is likely we will see Brady introduce some of his younger players into the squad and perhaps hand out a few debuts tomorrow evening to relieve their senior players for future League One games against Birmingham City and Burton Albion.
Football journalist with The Real EFL since 2023. A 2024 Multimedia Journalism graduate from the University of Salford, Lewis specialises in Salford City FC and EFL coverage.
