Cobblers team news for Newport - latest on Owen Dale, Lee Evans and Janoi Donacien
Cobblers will ‘assess’ the fitness of new signing Owen Dale this week ahead of Saturday’s game against Newport County, but defender Janoi Donacien and midfielder Lee Evans are both set to be absent.
Manager Chris Hogg has confirmed the club are unlikely to appeal the straight red card shown to Evans during Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Crawley Town. The 32-year-old was deemed to be out of control and reckless when challenging Dylan Morgan and will now miss the next three games.
Meanwhile, although Dale is now registered to play after joining Cobblers on deadline day, he was a free agent throughout the summer and therefore did not have a full pre-season.
“It’s all been very hectic with the deadline and the game on the same day but we’ll assess Owen this week,” confirmed Hogg. “He’s looked sharp on the grass and he’s looked good and we’ll continue to monitor him.”
Donacien limped off against Gillingham at the weekend and then missed the midweek draw with Crawley.
Hogg added: “Janoi had a scan and he’s going to be out in the short-term. We don’t know the exact timescale yet but he’ll miss the next couple of games. Everyone else came through well and we’ll dust them down and get ready for Friday.”