Cobblers to be without key man for Luton Town tie as Kevin Nolan reveals his selection plan
Cobblers will be without top scorer Tom Eaves for Wednesday’s Vertu Trophy semi-final tie at Luton Town due to suspension.
The 34-year-old, who reached 10 goals for the season against Peterborough at the weekend, has picked up two bookings in the competition this season and is therefore ruled out of the trip to Kenilworth Road. However, fellow striker Jack Vale is back available after serving his three-game suspension.
Despite the prospect of a first ever domestic cup final, and a place at Wembley, manager Kevin Nolan has confirmed he will stick to his guns and continue to rotate his squad for Wednesday’s tie, as he has done throughout the competition this season.
"I trust in the squad and that's what has got us to this stage and it's allowed us to keep players fresh for weekend games,” said Nolan. "It also provides players with the opportunity to shine and give me headaches. There will be changes but most of the lads who were involved on Saturday will be involved again on Wednesday. A couple of players who have played a lot recently might sit out but we're going to be strong.”
Wednesday’s game will be Northampton's sixth successive midweek fixture before they finally get a week off after Sunday’s League One fixture at AFC Wimbledon.
"We're right at the end of this relentless period,” Nolan added. “We've had Nesta (Guinness-Walker) go down with fatigue and he was struggling last Tuesday and there are players we need to manage.
"Elliott Moore is another one who has played a lot of games considering he hadn't played for a long time and didn't have a pre-season. Jack Vale had just got going before his red card against Lincoln but fortunately he only missed one week and he’s back with us and it's good to have him back again because Tom Eaves is suspended.”