Brady responds to boos for Eppiah substitution against Bradford City

Eppiah was replaced by Zimba in the final 20 minutes
Josh Eppiah.Josh Eppiah.
Josh Eppiah.

Jon Brady has explained why he had little choice but to substitute Josh Eppiah during Saturday’s draw against Bradford City.

Eppiah impressed on the left-wing and caused problems for Bradford throughout before making way for Chanka Zimba with 15 minutes to play, a decision that was booed by some home supporters at Sixfields.

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However, the 23-year-old has faced injury and fitness problems and is yet to complete 90 minutes since arriving on loan from Leicester in January. He was also struggling with a back problem in training last week and made up Brady’s mind for him during Saturday’s game.

"I’m OK to take stick from our fans,” said Brady. “If they want to give me stick, let them give me stick.

"They don’t know the context with Josh. Again this week he has suffered with back pain and he was screaming that he felt tired and he was ready to come off.

"I wanted to keep him on, I fought to keep him on for an extra 10 minutes because he was the difference maker for us out there.

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"I didn’t want to bring him off but unfortunately he’s fighting with his body at the moment and it’s not agreeing with him.

"But I thought he was excellent and he made a difference and opened them up on several occasions.

"I was fighting with myself and I forced him to stay on for 10 minutes longer than he should have done.”