Cobblers 'have to replace Wheatley', acknowledges Thomas

The Manchester United forward was an influential member of the team when his parent club made the decision to cut his loan spell short earlier this month, and he’s yet to be replaced. Town were close to adding an attacking player last week but the deal fell through.

Thomas said: "We’re in a position this season where we can take more of a considered view, (but) we’ve got to make sure we replace Ethan at the top of the pitch and we’ll definitely be in the market.

"The Ethan situation was frustrating for all concerned and we’ll only know over time whether that proves the right decision for him, but the loan market has been really good for us over the last few years and sometimes you do have to take the rough with the smooth.

“A similar thing happened with Kion (Etete) and it’s just the way football goes, but we all accept that we have to replace Ethan at the top of the pitch and we’ll probably look at the loan market for that.”

But finding a striker within budget is easier said than done given the huge amounts of money flying around not only League One but also League Two.

"The biggest conversation in football at the moment is about finances, especially in League One and League Two,” Thomas added. “The average loss in our division is £5 or £6million a year.

"We’re spending an extra £1.5million a year just to stay in the same place and keep up and that does become challenging and it does dictate some of the decisions, but it’s nothing new for us and we know we’re punching a little bit in terms of competing at this level.

"On the flip side, I think we should be proud of the fact we’re competing at this level without losing millions every year. We drew with a team the other day who lost £14million last year, so we have to be as realistic and as competitive as we can be.

"We have dropped under the line but we don’t panic about that. We understand there are ups and downs every season.”