Cobblers injury news as Aaron McGowan closes in on return

Aaron McGowan is inching closer to a long-awaited return to the Cobblers first-team but he may need some minutes in behind-closed-doors matches before he can feature in a matchday squad.

The 26-year-old has not played a single minute this season after undergoing knee surgery in the summer but was aiming to return by the end of September.

However, whilst McGowan is back in training, he will need time to build up his match fitness.

“Aaron has been training,” confirmed manager Jon Brady. “We just need to be very careful with his workload at the moment because it is a tough injury that he is coming back from.

"He is working hard and he’s joining in with training. We might need to get some games behind closed doors just so we can help him bridge that gap to competitive games.”

Shaun McWilliams, Tyler Magloire and Akin Odimayo are also currently sidelined and Brady does not expect any of them to return this weekend.

He added: "I don’t think there will be anyone else back in the squad this weekend apart from what we already have. If there is, it will be very touch and go but we will see.”