Eppiah feels close to his best and hopes to play big part in Cobblers' promotion push

Josh Eppiah is hopeful he can still make a big impact this season after saying he feels fit and close to his best following a rare start against Crawley Town last weekend.

Injuries have restricted the 24-year-old to just four league starts this season but Saturday’s electric first-half performance against Crawley was a reminder of what a difference-maker he can be at this level.

Few players in League Two possess Eppiah’s quality and that was evident at this stage of last season when Town’s attack, starring the Leicester City loanee, clicked into gear. If the same happens again this time around, Cobblers will go close to promotion.

"We were flying towards the end of the season,” said Eppiah. “We pretty much won every single game and that's what we need to do again now.

"It's just finding that balance with the attacking players that click together and I thought we did at the weekend so hopefully we can keep that same energy between us going forward.

"We created so many chances on Saturday and although we didn't take them, if we can do that again in the next game, we hopefully can win the game by two or three.”

A long-standing back problem is the root cause of Eppiah’s many injury troubles but he looked sharp off the bench at Colchester United recently and then produced his best performance of the season the following weekend.

He added: "When I first came back to the club, I missed out on pre-season which made it tough and then the team was doing well so it was hard for me to break into the side and play regularly.

"I did play a couple of games but when I played, I didn't feel at my best and that was just mentally and also my body was playing up a bit.

"I think that is behind me now and I've been working hard in training to make sure I'm fit and I'm out there every single day and all I can do now is get better.

"The more games I get under my belt, the more momentum I'll have and the sharper I'll feel and I will be able to perform how I did on Saturday more often.”

Eppiah’s technical quality, quick feet and sharp movement caused constant problems for Crawley. The only thing missing, not just from his performance but the team as a whole, was an end product.

He continued: "It was really good to be back in the team and I felt good.

"I thought I did well when I came on against Colchester and I've just been waiting for an opportunity but I've felt sharp and ready to go.

"When the gaffer gave me my chance, I was ready for it. I was fresh and my body felt good and I thought all the boys put in a good shift.

"We created so many chances, they didn’t go in but sometimes you need a goal like Jack's to win you the game – it was an awesome strike.

"The crowd were really good. We lost a man with the red card but they almost gave us that extra man back with their support and that helped us over the line."

Cobblers have taken seven points from their last nine ahead of Saturday’s trip to Hartlepool United.

Eppiah added: "It's given us a confidence boost and that's what we needed because we hadn’t been on the best run before last week.

"But I feel like this can be the start of another run and everyone in training is in high spirits and ready to go.”