Hogg confirms trialist has left Cobblers - but midfielder is still in the frame
Chris Hogg has confirmed he remains keen to strengthen in central midfield and trialist Grant Ward is a serious option under consideration for that position.
The 31-year-old midfielder has featured in all three friendlies so far, the latest of which came at Southend United on Wednesday evening when he played the second half. He started against Leicester and then came on in the draw with Coventry.
"Grant is someone I know well,” said Hogg after the 3-1 win at Roots Hall. “We worked together at Ipswich many years ago and he’s coming in to train with us and we’re having a good look at those central positions.
"We’re assessing our options externally as well as looking at Grant in that position. I know Wardy as a person and as a footballer and he’s got a lot of good characteristics. We’ll continue to monitor that situation.”
Hogg also confirmed that defender Jake Rooney, who played as a trialist against Coventry, has now left the club. It has since been announced that Rooney is returning Boston United permanently. The defender played for the National League club on loan from Derby last season.
Back at Sixfields, work remains ongoing to bolster the squad following the latest additions of Matty Warhurst and Connor Lemonheigh-Evans.
"There's lots of things that go into building a team,” Hogg added. “We aren't going to build a team that dominates games and does what we want it to do in one window. It'll take an aligned approach and a strategy behind the scenes, which we're working on.
"We want build a team over the course of weeks and months. We obviously hope it will be a successful season but I'm very aware that we can't go from where the team has been in 2026 to where I want us to be straightaway. There's lots of work to do and we're doing plenty behind the scenes to both develop the club and the squad.”
On defender Conor McCarthy, who did not feature at Southend after coming off with injury at the weekend, Hogg said: "Conor just picked up a little something the other day and hopefully it’ll just be a matter of weeks before he’s back playing again.”