Cobblers duo return to training but O'Toole remains sidelined

Yet to feature in 2017/18, defender Moloney and midfielder McWilliams have been nursing minor hamstring and ankle knocks respectively but now back in first-team training, they are expected to return to action in the coming week.

The news is not so good for O’Toole who’s still being troubled by his groin injury having undergone surgery at the back end of last season.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s first home game of the season, manager Justin Edinburgh said: “Shaun McWilliams and Brendan Moloney are back training and we’re hopeful they’ll get through that.

“We’re working on the progression of John-Joe but it’s taking a little bit longer and a bit slower than we wished so he won’t be available for the weekend.”

Daniel Powell has also picked up a hamstring injury which forced him to miss Tuesday’s tie at Queens Park Rangers but Edinburgh doesn’t expect the 26-year-old to be sidelined for any length of time.

“He had a tight hamstring,” he explained. “With the depth we’ve got now we’re able to not take chances and that’s why we didn’t play him on Tuesday.

“We’ll assess him again and hopefully he’ll come into contention this weekend.”