Burton Albion boosted by return of key players to face Cobblers following Covid-19 hit

The Brewers were recently hit hard by Covid-19, and had to take on Hull City last weekend without a total of 11 players, due to infection, others having to self isolate and injuries.

They lost that game 2-0, but for the visit of Keith Curle's Town they welcome back Lucas Akins, Kieran O’Hara, Charles Vernam, Joe Powell and Ben Fox after they completed their isolation period.

Burton will still be without a couple of senior pros in Colin Daniel and Kieran Wallace, while striker Kane Hemmings is also set to miss out, with the former Notts County and Mansfield Town man injuring his quad in the warm-up at Hull.

Also missing through injury for Burton are youngsters Jack Roles and Teddy Sharman-Lowe, while Sam Hughes is suspended after being sent off against the Tigers.

That could open the door for John-Joe O'Toole to line up against his former club at the heart of the Brewers defence.

The returning players will be a boost for manager Jake Buxton, who is desperate for his team to improve on their return of just one win from 18 matches played this season.

They go into Saturday's clash second from bottom in league one, four points adrift of 19th-placed Cobblers.

And although the Burton boss feels it is too early to label the match as a 'must-win' for his team, he accepts it is a very important encounter.

The Brewers are on a run of 13 matches without a win, and Buxton told derbytelegraph.co.uk: "We have been saying, it’s probably a bit early to be calling it a must-win game but we’ve missed opportunities playing at home.

“We’ve picked up some good points on the road but there are games in which we believe we should be beating the opposition at home.

“We have to take our opportunities. We went into games against Rochdale and Blackpool when we believed, with the correct performance, the outcome would be good and we’d pick up points.

"We didn’t – and we expect a different outcome against Northampton, a positive performance and a decent outcome. If we’re going to progress up the table and get ourselves out of trouble, we have to be winning our home games.”

The return of the players from self-isolation has put a spring in the squad's step, and Buxton said: “Training has been really good.

“We had a clear week this week, to refresh, which was nice.

"We’ve got a few more back into training and we’ve been able to give players who have had a lot of minutes some more recovery time.

"Training on Friday was as good as it’s been in a long time. The lads look a lot fresher and I’m hoping we get a good performance.”

Meanwhile, the Cobblers will travel to Exeter City in the second round of the Papa John's Trophy.

Friday night's draw paired Town with the Grecians, the team they beat in the Sky Bet League Two play-off final at Wembley in June.

The Papa John's Trophy clash will be played in the week commencing December 7.