Decisions to make as Brady faces 'conundrums' over certain players ahead of Crewe clash

Cobblers manager Jon Brady is facing a few ‘conundrums’ over whether or not to start certain players against Crewe Alexandra on Saturday.

Midfielder William Hondermarck impressed during Tuesday’s win over Mansfield but that was his first 90 minutes since joining Northampton in January. It was also Max Dyche’s first start in two months and Ryan Haynes’ second in three months.

Brady must also be tempted to chuck in Kieron Bowie from the off after the young forward’s eye-catching cameos against Hartlepool and Mansfield, but again his last start was way back at the beginning of January.

"Max has kept himself extremely fit and sharp,” said Brady on Dyche. “He works hard every training and he always done his extra work with Col (Colin Calderwood) and it was great for Max to get through 90 minutes.

"Haynesy had to come off because we are trying to build his minutes and look after him and he felt a bit stiff and tight and I couldn’t take the chance anymore.

"We have also had to build Will’s minutes and been very patient and we’ll see again on Saturday. Does he start? We will see. It’s a conundrum.”

Crewe have spent most of the season in the bottom half of the table but their form has picked up of late. Tuesday’s narrow 1-0 defeat to second-placed Stevenage was their first loss in seven games and came just four days after a thrilling 4-3 win over fellow promotion hopefuls Salford.

Brady added: “We have seen that any team in this league, from top to bottom, can give any other team a run for their money. It’s been proven time and time again. You look at Stevenage the other week, going to Rochdale and losing 2-0.

"It always seems to be like this in League Two so you have to be consistent and keep picking up points. We are there or thereabouts and now we need another big performance at the weekend.

"Crewe have only lost one of their last seven games and they have played some good teams in that time. I think they have really improved since the new manager came before Christmas so we need to be at our best and we’ll need the fans behind us.”