Hogg confirms Cobblers trio have been called up for international duty
Cobblers boss Chris Hogg has given an update on the state of his squad and also revealed that three players have received international call-ups.
Goalkeeper Zach Jeacock came off with injury during Saturday’s FA Cup tie against York City, while Janoi Donacien (precaution) and Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh (personal reasons) were both absent from the squad that travelled to the LNER Community Stadium.
And while Donacien is not injured, he is set to miss Tuesday’s EFL Trophy tie against Gillingham and Saturday’s League Two game at Salford City after being called up by Saint Lucia. Tyrese Fornah (Sierra Leone) and Sam Chambers (Scotland Under-19s) will also be away on international duty this week.
However, despite reaching the necessary threshold to request a postponement, the game against Salford is scheduled to go ahead as planned. This is due to the face that Chambers does not qualify due to the fact he has not played enough minutes this season. Cobblers may also have a decision to be made on the goalkeeping situation given Ross Fitzsimons, Jeacock’s back-up, has not featured in a matchday squad for nearly two months.
“We’re still assessing Zach,” said Hogg. “We’ll have more clarity on that in the next 24 hours. Joe’s back with us and he’ll be in contention for the next couple of games, which is great.
“Janoi was more of a recovery thing after the last few games. He’s actually had an international call-up, alongside Tyrese and Sam Chambers. We’ll assess the squad and get a team out that will be good to watch.”
Cobblers need to beat Gillingham by two goals or more to quality for the knockout stages of the EFL Trophy.
“We’ll pick a team to be positive,” Hogg added. “Every game is an opportunity for people because we’ll need the whole squad as we go through the winter.
“We know we need two goals to go through and Gillingham need a draw but that won’t necessarily change our approach. We’ll do analysis as normal and there will be certain spaces that we’ll look to attack but we’ll also need to nullify their strengths because they will test us. We have to show a reaction from Saturday.”