Holmes ruled out and Diamond a doubt for Cobblers’ trip to Accrington

FACING FITNESS FIGHT - Cobblers central defender Zander Diamond

The Scotsman picked up a dead leg in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at the hands of Plymouth Argyle, and suffered a reaction in training ahead of Tuesday’s Capital One Cup defeat at Newcastle United.

The extent of Diamond’s injury will be assessed today (Thurs), but it is touch and go whether or not he will be the squad for the Sky Bet League Two clash at the Crown Ground.

Attacker Ricky Holmes will again be missing as he is still struggling with the back spasm suffered in the warm-up at Barnet nine days ago, while long-term injury victims Brendan Moloney and Evan Horwood are also ruled out.

On the plus side, Josh Lelan is available for selection after serving the one-match ban he picked up for his sending-off against Plymouth.

“We are still waiting on Zander, who picked up a dead-leg on Saturday,” said Cobblers assistant boss Alan Knill.

“He trained on Monday, but there was a reaction to it after training, which is why he missed the game on Tuesday.

“Zander is in this morning (Thursday), so we will see how he goes today and then make a decision.

“Ricky is still struggling, but is not too far away, so hopefully he will be okay for next week.”