Injury-hit Cobblers to assess key men after 'taking a few blows' before and during Orient victory

Jon Brady admits he's thankful for a 10-day break until Cobblers' next fixture after being depleted by injury and unavailability against Leyton Orient on Saturday.

With Shaun McWilliams suspended, Jon Guthrie having to pull out late due to his wife going into labour and Kion Etete lasting only 20 minutes, Town beat in-form Orient without the spine of their team.

Sam Hoskins scored the only goal of the game late in the first-half, toe-poking into the bottom corner from a long throw, before a superb defensive rearguard thwarted their promotion rivals on a horrible afternoon at Sixfields.

Guthrie's late withdrawal meant 18-year-old Max Dyche was only made aware that he would be starting a few hours before kick-off, but he slotted in impressively next to captain Fraser Horsfall.

Dyche had to be drafted in due to Town's lengthy injury list in defensive positions. Michael Harriman and Dominic Revan are out with minor injuries but Sid Nelson and Joseph Mills remain long-term absentees.

McWilliams is now available again after serving his one-game suspension and Etete, who went off with a hamstring problem against Orient, has a bit of time to recover with Cobblers not playing again until a week on Tuesday.

"We took a few knocks in terms of the players we lost," admitted Brady. "Jon got a phone call very early on Saturday morning and Max had to come in at the last minute and then we lost Kion early in the game.

"The doctor has assessed him and he has a bit of pain in that hamstring at the moment but as you saw, we brought him off as early as we could because we didn't want to take any risks with Kion - but he's another one to add to the list!

"I haven't had time to let the dust settle so I'm yet to catch up with Jon but hopefully he can get through a few sleepless nights and we can get him back.

"We've got a little break now so hopefully a few injuries clear up, but we'll have to wait and see."