Gray backing Cobblers' 'fox in the box'
Stuart Gray is confident Billy McKay can be Northampton Town's 'fox in the box' after snapping up the youngster on a one-year contract.
McKay has scored twice in pre-season so far, and will fancy his chances of adding to that tally when he makes his first appearance as a contracted Northampton player at Stamford tonight.
Gray's forward recruitment now seems to be complete, with McKay one of four strikers on the Sixfields books alongside Adebayo Akinfenwa, Steve Guinan and Gary Mulligan.
The manager would still like to add a winger and several defenders to his thin squad – as it stands Gray will be unable to name a full matchday squad without dipping into the youth team – but has confirmed he is content with what he has up front, and particularly the acquisition of McKay.
"I've seen Billy play several times and I've always been impressed with him," said Gray, who will continue to run the rule over several triallists both at Stamford tonight and in Tuesday's final home friendly against Sheffield Wednesday.
"I suppose you could call him a 'fox in the box' type player or whatever, he's certainly a livewire.
"He gives us something a bit different to what I already had. No disrespect to Bayo (Akinfenwa) and Steve Guinan but they are hold-up players and there to bring others into the game. Billy can get in behind and stretch teams so we've got a nice little balance now. I was very surprised that Leicester let him go but their loss is our gain.
"He's come in and conducted himself very well. He's scored twice now and every time he's played he's looked like he's going to cause defenders problems.
"He's a Northampton player now and hopefully he can have a very good future with this football club."
Meanwhile, the agent for Giles Coke issued a 'no comment' to the Chron last night over the deal which took the midfielder to Motherwell.
The Cobblers are seeking Football Association advice over the incident which saw Coke's representative Alex Cowdy confirm by email that Coke would sign his new contract at Sixfields, only for the 23-year-old to then agree terms at Fir Park. Cowdy is reluctant to issue a statement to this newspaper while the case is ongoing.
Cobblers squad numbers: 1. Chris Dunn, 3. Danny Jackman, 4. Luke Guttridge, 5. Craig Hinton, 6. Dean Beckwith, 8. Abdul Osman, 9. Steve Guinan, 10. Adebayo Akinfenwa, 11. Andy Holt, 12. Ryan Gilligan, 13. Paul Walker, 14. Liam Davis, 15. Alex Dyer, 16. Gary Mulligan, 17. Billy McKay, 18. Joe Benjamin
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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