Jon Brady worried about overplaying young loanees from Fulham and Brighton

The two 20-year-olds have already made 41 appearances between them this season
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Manager Jon Brady admits he is wary of overplaying his two young Premier League stars – Marc Leonard and Kieron Bowie – this season with both having quickly established themselves as regular starters.

Of the 23 games Northampton have played in all competitions this season, Leonard has featured in 21 and Bowie 20. Take away the EFL Trophy tie against Arsenal Under-21s last month and the latter has started the last nine matches in succession.

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Leonard, on loan from Brighton, has shown himself to be a classy operator in central midfield for Cobblers but was only on the bench against Gillingham on Saturday, while Fulham’s Bowie is growing in stature up front and netted his fourth goal of the season at Priestfield. Neither player has had much of a rest due to the amount of injuries and suspensions Town have had to deal with in recent weeks.

Kieron Bowie in action at Gillingham.Kieron Bowie in action at Gillingham.
Kieron Bowie in action at Gillingham.

"Kieron Bowie and Marc Leonard, these are young players who are only used to one game every seven or 10 days but they have absolutely put a huge shift in for us over the last few weeks,” said Brady on his two 20-year-old loanees.

"They have given us quite a boost as young lads but we haven't had the opportunity to pull Kieron out and give him a break and people don't realise how important that is. If you constantly do that to a young player, he will break down eventually so we have to find a way to give him a break.

"It's the same with Marc. He came out of the team against Gillingham on Saturday for a little reset but he's been magnificent for us this season.

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"If we can get everyone back around mid-December and not lose anyone else over the next few weeks, it will really help the whole squad especially the players who have played a lot of minutes, and I might be able to mix it up a little bit."