Injuries clearing up as Cobblers squad gets close to full strength

Loan signing Josh Eppiah was an unused substitute at Bradford City last Saturday (Picture: Pete Norton)

Boss Jon Brady is keeping his fingers crossed he will have virtually a full-strength squad to pick from when the Cobblers return to action against Tranmere Rovers next weekend.

The past few months has been a testing time for Brady, as he had had to deal with a string of injuries and also suspensions to key players.

There have been games when his squad has been down to the bare minimum, with the likes of Josh Eppiah, Tyler Magloire, Danny Hylton, Shaun McWilliams, Aki Odimayo, Aaron McGowan and Ali Koiki all missing for long periods.

But the woes on that front are really beginning to ease, and there is every chance that by the time Tranmere come to Sixfields on December 3, only left-back Ali Koiki will be unavailable.

And that will be a massive boost for Brady.

The latest good news is that loan signing Eppiah, who has made just four appearances this season and hasn’t played since October 8, was an unused substitute at Bradford last weekend, while Magloire is closing in on a return, having not featured since September 17

"I haven't got a crystal ball, but I would hope that everybody who was available at Bradford is available, plus we will have Sam Hoskins back in the squad, which will be really good," said the Cobblers boss.

"Josh will have another week-and-a-half, two weeks under his belt, and he is training more consistently at the moment.

"We now have to try and build his match minutes if we can.

"So if everybody stays fit then that is really positive for us.

"Tyler (Magloire) will keep building his progress and joining in training.

"He has been on the grass for the past two weeks, and he is just starting to join in the first part of most of our sessions, but it is still non-contact at the moment.

"With his injury we will be cautious with him and we will build him up, so it is very positive.

"With Ali (Koiki), it is probably a little bit more off at the moment, and I don't want to give a time frame on him.

"We did say that at some stage those two would be back in December, and potentially he should be back in and around the squad."

The Cobblers are without a game this weekend following their FA Cup first round defeat at Chesterfield earlier this month.