Brady explains McWilliams situation and reveals fellow midfielder may miss the rest of the season

One in, one out for Cobblers
Shaun McWilliams.Shaun McWilliams.
Shaun McWilliams.

Jon Brady says it is a ‘huge boost’ to have Shaun McWilliams back available after initially fearing the midfielder would miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

The 23-year-old sustained the injury against Carlisle United last month and early scans seemed to indicate he would be out for up to two months.

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However, after further investigation, McWilliams’ knee problem is not as bad as first feared and it took everyone by surprise when he made the bench against Bradford City on Saturday, albeit without getting onto the pitch.

"It's a huge boost to have Shaun back,” said Brady. “Michael Bolger (physio) and the medical department are working extremely hard.

"Without going into too much detail, there was a little thing with Shaun's knee where there was doubt and we were told a certain thing by the doctors.

"We pushed for extra scans and we found them to be inconclusive. Shaun only really started to train properly on Thursday so it would have been a huge gamble to put him on the pitch.

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"But I had him on the bench and now he needs a good week of training.”

But whilst McWilliams is back available, fellow midfielder Paul Lewis could well be out for the season after injuring himself in the tackle that led to his red card against Mansfield last weekend.

"Pablo is in a boot,” Brady revealed. “It happened in the tackle he made last weekend. We are still waiting for the results of a scan but I don't think it will be good news. Potentially he could miss the rest of the season.”