Brady says Cobblers will do things 'differently' to avoid another injury crisis after 'freak season'

Cobblers boss Jon Brady says there are ‘certain things’ that the club plan to do differently next season in the hope of avoiding another injury crisis after their major issues during the 2022/23 campaign.

Northampton were without several players for the very first game of the season against Colchester United last July and things only deteriorated over time, especially after Christmas when Brady was regularly missing nine, 10 or even 11 first-team players.

He confirmed earlier in the year that the club were reviewing the situation and that process remains ongoing. Town finished the season with 10 players injured – Jonny Maxted (knee), Aaron McGowan (ankle), Akin Odimayo (hamstring), Jon Guthrie (hamstring), Tyler Magloire (knee), Ali Koiki (hamstring), Ryan Haynes (knee), Josh Harrop (unknown), Ben Fox (ankle) and Jack Sowerby (hamstring).

"We have already sat down and worked out at what stage certain players will return,” said Brady. “We have gone through the long list of players who are currently injured so we know when to expect them back ahead of next season.

"It's been a bone of contention. We looked at it around Christmas time and we've reviewed it more since. There have been some knocks and impact injuries but the other 40 per cent have been hamstring injuries.

"But across the board, from Premiership down to League Two, there's been an increase in hamstring injuries by 23.5 per cent this season and I think a lot of clubs will be working out why that is.

"The reason for that isn't understood at the moment but it could be something to do with the COVID season. We have looked into it in real detail and hopefully we don't have that situation again next season."

Past injury records are always taken into consideration by the Cobblers when they identify potential new signings in the transfer market and that will be as important as ever his summer. The club also plan to make other changes in the hope of avoiding a repeat of this season.

"There will be certain things that we might do a little bit different across the board in a few departments,” added Brady. “We will sit down and formulate a plan and we might change the structure a bit, but will that be the right thing to do? We've looked really deep into it and we're hoping it will be.

"We look at players and ask – are they robust enough? How many games have they played? What's their injury situation? But sometimes it can be down to luck and you just don't know what's around the corner.

"We hope it's a freak season for us because it's been really tough. There's always hurt when we win a game and at times we haven't had any depth and we've had to shuffle players all around the team.”