Cobblers could have 'one or two' back from injury for Barrow

Cobblers boss Jon Brady is hoping to have ‘one or two’ players back from injury when his side take on another promotion rival this weekend.

Town head to Barrow for the first time since the final day of last season when they prevailed 3-1 winners but still cruelly missed out on automatic promotion.

Barrow are flying high this year and pose a difficult challenge for the Cobblers, who again could be without some key men. Aaron McGowan, Lee Burge, Sam Sherring, Tyler Magloire and Shaun McWilliams have all battled injury lately, while captain Jon Guthrie has been ill.

Guthrie should return at Holker Street but he would have gone three weeks without a game, while left-back Ali Koiki, who might be required to start depending on the injury situation, has only 20 minutes of competitive game-time under his belt in the last three months.

That means Brady has lots of thinking to do before selecting his team on Saturday.

"We have had a bit of a blow with injuries over the last couple of weeks,” said Brady, who is still hoping to add to his squad before Tuesday’s deadline.

"We are hoping to get one or two back this week and we will see if they are ready in time to play at the weekend.”

One player definitely out on Saturday is goalkeeper Burge, whose absence for the foreseeable future presents an opportunity for new signing Tom King to nail down the number one spot.

Brady added: "I think Burgey will still be a few weeks away after his injury so Tom has an opportunity to prove himself.”