Fulham loanee Kieron Bowie talks through injury hardship and his delight at being back fit after game-changing cameo against Hartlepool

Young forward Kieron Bowie was delighted to make his return to action against Hartlepool United on Saturday after admitting it had been a difficult two months sat on the sidelines.

The 20-year-old Fulham loanee had been a regular starter for Jon Brady before he suffered an innocuous injury in training two days before the Cobblers were set to host Mansfield in the middle of January.

"It was before the Mansfield game that was postponed,” explained Bowie. “It was on the Thursday, I just sort of twisted in training and at the time I didn't think it was anything serious.

"I thought I would be training the next day but I had to go for a scan. Initially it was meant to be about three months but then I went to see a specialist and it wasn't quite that bad.

"I've put in a lot of hard graft in the gym and with the physio and the sport scientist to get as fit as possible and get back on the pitch and hopefully back in the starting line-up.

"It's hard when you're out on the grass doing your running on your own. You're just eager to get back playing and asking 'when can I be on the bench? When can I come on?' and the medical staff are holding you back to make sure you don't come back too soon.

"But they've looked after me and have got me back at the right time and now I feel fit again.”

Bowie impressed off the bench at Victoria Park, his power and athleticism providing Town’s attack with a much-needed spark, but any fans hoping to see him start against Mansfield on Tuesday might be disappointed.

"I feel fine and I'll be ready for Mansfield but I'll probably be on the bench again and have limited minutes and then see where we go from there,” he added.

"We are getting a lot of injuries at the moment. One comes back and another two get injured. That's just our luck but we have done well and we keep grinding out results.”

Bowie had one big chance during his cameo on Saturday when he powered past a defender before blazing over.

"Harv (Lintott) put a good ball down the channel and I did what I do best and just got on the end of it,” he added. “I got past the defender and I probably should have scored but sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't and you just have to focus on the next one.

"That's what we did and we got the equaliser in the end so we're happy to come away with a point. We've only had one defeat in nine but it doesn't feel like there's been many wins and we've drawn quite a few games.

"We have fought back a few times and we are still well in that fight.”