Northampton Town v Grimsby Town: Jefferson Lake's preview
The medical report following Tuesday night's game at Milton Keynes brought both good news and bad news to the manager's desk.
On the plus side for Ian Sampson, Patrick Kanyuka has been cleared to play after being stretchered off at stadium:mk.
But it's a case of one in, one out in 6ft 4in defender terms, with Dean Beckwith likely to be missing for around a fortnight.
The former Hereford United man limped off in Bletchley with not one but two hamstring injuries.
One is more serious than the other, and Beckwith almost certainly did one and carried on playing, then the other went.
But while the chronology of the injuries and the extent of them is not known, one thing is clear: Beckwith will not be available for tomorrow's game against Grimsby Town.
"We're not sure how bad Dean's injury is because he might have done both hamstrings, which is very unusual," confirmed manager Ian Sampson.
"We're not sure whether one is just a bit of tightness and the other one is a pull but he'll be missing for two weeks with it.
"It's never been heard of before. It's a sprinter's injury so of course I never did it in my career.
"Patrick is fine, though, and he's available for selection."
Sampson has plenty of cover at centre-back, with Kanyuka, Chris McCready and Craig Hinton vying for places.
Hinton started Tuesday's game at right-back but won't need to do so again with John Johnson having recovered from a recent ankle injury.
For the first time in a long while there are midfield options too, with Liam Davis now providing some speed out wide.
Ex-Coventry City schemer Davis played the full 90 at stadium:mk with no adverse reaction with the exception of some general stiffness.
Billy McKay will be restored to the matchday squad after the 'five subs' rule took him out of Tuesday's game, while Adebayo Akinfenwa will come back in to partner Steve Guinan.
Courtney Herbert, though, remains sidelined with a back injury that has puzzled the medical team and robbed Sampson of a player who had been a big hit since his elevation to professional football.
"Nothing's been decided on when he's going to be coming back," he said. "We're just looking after him at the moment and wrapping him up.
"He's got a problem with his back and it's affecting his entire leg.
"We're finding it difficult to find the cause of it and how to deal with it.
"So he's going to be out for a little bit longer yet."
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Weather for Northampton
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -1 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -6 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
