Brady happy with his midfield options despite concerns over trio

Shaun McWilliams has been rated as 'touch and go' for Saturday's Sky Bet League Two fixture at Crawley Town.

The 23-year-old central midfielder was taken off during Northampton's defeat to Rochdale on Saturday and manager Jon Brady later confirmed that was due to a knock.

McWilliams missed the EFL Cup tie at home to AFC Wimbledon in midweek, but fellow midfielder Jordan Flores got through 66 minutes after struggling with his Achilles.

"I thought Jordan probably had his best game for us the other night," said Brady. "He was aggressive and he was purposeful with his passing so that was great to see.

"He's come through quite well but with Achilles tendinitis... how long is a piece of string? Some days it hurts, some days it doesn't.

"With Shaun, our physio is doing a good job with his rehabilitation and he'll be touch and go for the weekend so we'll see where we are with that."

More promisingly, another midfielder, Jack Sowerby, is back in training following nearly two months out with a shoulder injury.

"We've got Jack Sowerby still to come back," Brady added. "He's had a shoulder injury and also had a bout of COVID on top of that but he's back training with the group now.

"We're really looking forward to getting Jack back because he's someone who I feel is dynamic in midfield and he's a good footballer and he adds a bit of bite. He's got everything to his game."

With fitness doubts over Sowerby, McWilliams and Flores, Town are looking light in central midfield. Both Sam Hoskins and Mitch Pinnock have filled in there at times this season, but Brady is happy with his options.

"We have had to adapt and obviously we're monitoring the situation," he continued. "We have had to to put wide men in that role in the middle.

"We look forward to getting Jack back before possibly looking elsewhere."