Facey the only injury concern as Cobblers are put through their paces in Spain

Town will wrap up their week-long training camp in Alicante with the clash against the Tigers youngsters at their training base, and former Manchester City man Facey is the only player currently carrying a knock.

“The only player I think might be doubtful is Shay,” said Austin when asked about the fitness of his squad ahead of the game.

“He turned his ankle over last week in the game (at Brackley) and he has been struggling a bit with that.

“He is doing a lot of work now with the fitness guys and the physio, so he is working hard, but there is no point taking any risks at this time of the season.”

While Facey has been working hard on getting his ankle right, his squad-mates have been getting put their paces under the Spanish sun.

Austin has been delighted with the work ethic and attitude of his players since they arrived in Spain on Saturday evening, and says they have responded well to what he and assistant Andy Todd have been asking of them.

He knows he is pushing the players hard, but insists it is crucial the physical work gets done now if the team is going to be fit enough to play the way he wants them to in Sky Bet League Two this season.

And Austin says the squad is on board with that.

“We have to be tough and we have to be resilient and we have to be able to have the answers to the questions that people are going to ask of us,” said the Cobblers boss.

“On top of that, I want us to play the game that we want to play, and express ourselves and enjoy what we do with the football, and I revolve all of the training in and around that.

“Yes it is very hard work, it’s has been tough, and yesterday (Monday) I took the players to places they probably haven’t been for quite some time.

“But they know why they are doing it, and they know it is revolved around our game, and I think that’s much easier for players to understand when you are doing that.”

And he added: “It is very important to enjoy what you are doing

“I have a fair amount of experience, and I would like to think that I know what players like, but I always try and make sure that every session there is a link to the game as I see it, and how I want us to play.

“I want us to grow what we did at the back end of last season, and I want to take that chunk and take it into the season.

“It is important if we get some momentum if we can early on, but the season is always going to be full of ups and downs.”