Brady not tempted to stock up at centre-back and won't recall young players from loan despite Horsfall's suspension

Town only have two natural centre-backs available this weekend
Sid Nelson.Sid Nelson.
Sid Nelson.

Cobblers boss Jon Brady feels 'comfortable' with the centre-back options at his disposal despite being without the suspended Fraser Horsfall this weekend.

Horsfall was red-carded for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity in the closing stages of last weekend's 1-0 victory at Colchester United.

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He will now miss Saturday's visit of Rochdale, which means Sid Nelson will almost certainly make his first league start for the Cobblers.

"I don't believe it will leave any gap," said Brady. "We brought Sid in because we believe he is a strong centre-half who has done very well in his career so far.

"He's been champing at the bit for an opportunity and we feel he's on an upward curve.

"He came on at the weekend in a real tough situation and he was brilliant aerially for us. He won some fantastic challenges in the air and he put his body on the line to make blocks.

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"He probably didn't think he was coming on before the red card so to come on and play the last few minutes like he did, I thought he was brilliant."

With teenage duo Josh Flanagan and Max Dyche out on loan at non-league clubs, Nelson and Jon Guthrie are the only natural centre-halves available to Brady this weekend.

"We're comfortable with what we've got in the squad," added Brady. "I think the young players right now need first-team experience and that's really important for them.

"A word for Max, he played for Kettering at the weekend, got a cut eye and carried on and they won 1-0 and from what we hear, he was excellent in defence.

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"That's great for his learning and his development and it's the same for Josh at the back and also Liam Cross so that's very important.

"We want to help accelerate their learning and not have them as bit-part players on the side here. We want them playing first-team football at a good, strong level week in, week out to help their development."