Cobblers pair back in training as Nolan delivers positive injury update ahead of Blackpool
With Tom Eaves and Nesta Guinness-Walker both back in training and Tyler Roberts available again, manager Kevin Nolan admits he’ll have some selection dilemmas for Saturday’s League One fixture against Blackpool.
The injury situation at Sixfields is looking about as healthy as it has done all season, especially after Eaves and Guinness-Walker returned to training last week, though neither were deemed fit enough to face Birmingham City on Saturday.
Guinness-Walker was taken out of the squad two weeks ago due to a minor issue while Eaves has not played since injuring his knee against Mansfield on February 7th. Roberts is available again after he was ineligible to face his parent club.
"Tom joined us late last week and he’s been training,” confirmed Nolan. “We’ve just had training today (Wednesday) and he seemed to come through it fine. I haven’t spoken to the physio yet but he looked OK and finished the session so I’m hoping he’ll be good for the weekend.
"It’s the same situation with Nesta. He was back with us last week but we didn’t want to throw either him or Tom straight back in because they hadn’t enough minutes in their legs in terms of training.
"We’ve given them some tough sessions and that’s because I don’t want them getting injured again when they come back. Nesta was unfortunate because he probably came back earlier than what I wanted and he did so well and he felt fine but then we lost him for a week or so. It was really important to get it right.”
Akin Odimayo and Ben Perry were both forced off during the draw with Birmingham but they too should be in the mix to start against Blackpool this weekend.
"We've got everybody back,” added Nolan. “I've actually got too many to pick from now! But that’s really nice and there’ll be lads who will be disappointed not to get into the 18. They’ve got to show me they’re willing to work hard day in, day out to get into the 11 and into the 18.
"Odimayo had a bit of a neck problem and that just seized up late on in the game and Ben gets these cramps in his calves. It’s nothing to do with fitness, it’s just more to do with growth and going through it but he’s trained fantastically this week and he’s in line to be in the squad at the weekend.”