Cobblers boss Edinburgh braced for bad news on Zakuani hamstring injury

Against Charlton on Saturday, the 30-year-old suffered a recurrence of the injury he suffered while on duty with the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Africa Cup of Nations.

The former Peterborough suffered the setback while chasing a ball over the top in the 20th minute of Town's 2-1 win, and he is now facing a lengthy spell out of the team.

"Gaby is to have a scan this afternoon, but as I sit here now it doesn't look very promising," said Edinburgh in his media conference on Tuesday morning.

"I wouldn't want to put a timescale on it until we have actually had the results of the scan, but it's not the best news to be getting and that's the way it is sometimes.

"Unfortunately for Gaby, and ourselves, it looks like, speaking with the physios, that if we get him back before the end of the season that is going to be a big plus."

It is a bitter pill for Zakuani to swallow, as he had taken four weeks to get over the initial he suffered in his country's 1-0 win over Morocco on January 16.

He returned to the Town match day squad for the Sky Bet League One win over Swindon, but didn't play, before making his first team return in last Tuesday's 2-1 defeat to Oldham Athletic.

There were no other fresh injury concerns from the weekend.

Right-back Neal Eardley is back in training after missing the Charlton clash due to the fact his partner gave birth on Saturday morning, and he is available for Saturday's trip to AFC Wimbledon.

Striker Alex Revell is continuing his rehabilitation from his calf injury, and it is hoped he will return to full training next week, with a chance of being involved for the trip to Bolton Wanderers on March 18.