Cobblers fringe players Hackett and Horwood attracting interest

The Town boss didn’t name which clubs are interested in the pair, but admitted he isn’t surprised they have attracted interest.

“There has been a couple of enquiries about lads that have been out of the team, Evan Horwood and Chris Hackett,” said Wilder when he was asked if there has been any transfer activity this week.

“I would expect that because they are good professionals and good players, and they haven’t played any part really, although Chris has played a little bit more than Evan.

“They haven’t played a lot of football recently, but apart from that, there is nothing else.”

Left-back Horwood, who underwent a groin operation in the summer, has yet to play a single minute this season, although he has been on the bench for the past couple of games, while Hackett has made a handful of appearances.

The winger, who has played 138 times for Town since signing in the summer of 2012, was a late substitute in Saturday’s 2-2 FA Cup draw with Milton Keynes Dons, but that was his first appearance since October 17.

Both players are out of contract at the end of this season.

The Cobblers squad has already travelled down to Devon ahead of tomorrow’s top-of-the-table Sky Bet League Two clash at Plymouth Argyle, and will be watching tonight’s FA Cup fourth round draw with interest.

Town face a replay at stadiummk next Tuesday night, and although Wilder insists that game is currently at the back of his mind ahead of a couple of crucial league two matches, he feels it is a winnable tie.

“We have two league games before the replay, so we can’t look at that now,” admitted the Cobblers boss.

“Milton Keynes will obviously think they can play a lot better, and we’ll think if we can play just as well as we have done then we’ll have an opportunity of getting through.

“We’ll get to the hotel tonight and we are all interested in the draw because we are in the hat for the fourth round, and we can be very proud of that, even though we have a replay to attack next Tuesday.”

The fourth-round draw is being shown live on The One Show on BBC1 tonight, with the programme starting at 7pm. The draw is scheduled to start at 7.15pm, and the Cobblers/MK Dons are ball number nine.