Kevin Nolan says 'new faces' will feature for Cobblers in FA Cup tie against Oldham
Kevin Nolan has hinted at the return of several players when Cobblers head to Oldham Athletic in the first round of the FA Cup this weekend.
Sam Hoskins, Joe Wormleighton and Dean Campbell became the latest join a packed treatment room this week, but it appears some of the eight players who have been on the sidelines in recent weeks – Jack Burroughs, Max Dyche, Conor McCarthy, Jon Guthrie, Liam Shaw, Tom Eaves, Elliott List and Jack Vale – will return at Boundary Park.
List, Eaves, McCarthy and Dyche are all known to have trained to some degree this week, while Guthrie and Shaw are also close to returning. Neither have featured at all this season following ACL injuries sustained last term.
Previewing tomorrow’s FA Cup clash at League Two Oldham, Nolan said: "I'd much prefer to be at home but what we have to do is be professional, execute our game plan, and try and win and get ourselves into the next round.
"But it’s going to be tough because Oldham haven't lost at home since August and Micky (Mellon) has done a great job there. They did fantastically well to get up from the National League last season. He’s put together a good squad with lots of experience and they’ll know how to play the game and it’ll be interesting for my lads because if we go there and execute our game plan, we'll give ourselves a good chance.
"It'll also be interesting because there'll probably be a few boys involved who you haven't seen a lot of. That'll be nice for me to be able to judge them and see where they’re at. There'll be familiar faces and new faces in and around the bench and the team so I'm looking forward to it.”
Nolan again repeated his admiration and appreciation for Northampton’s supporters this week – and he’s desperate to give them some long overdue FA Cup cheer at Boundary Park.
"The fans have been terrific home and away since I've been here, especially away, and I really hope we can reward them at the weekend,” Nolan added. “They’ve obviously been great at home but the away fans have really surprised me.
"They travel in their numbers every week and you hear them every game – they didn’t stop all night against Reading last week. Hopefully we can give them something to smile about at the weekend.”