Morris happy to play across the midfield for Cobblers

The advantage of signing players on loan is that they often arrive with something to prove and that certainly applies to Town’s latest January recruit Bryn Morris.

The 24-year-old midfielder will spend the rest of the season at the PTS Academy Stadium after a frustratingly stop-start campaign with parent club Portsmouth.

Morris was a regular fixture in Pompey’s midfield for the opening seven games of the season but he hasn’t started a league match since October 10.

“It’s been a frustrating season,” he admits. “I came back from a long-term injury before the play-offs last season and I played in the semi-final and then started the season in the team.

“I played all the pre-season games and the first five or six league matches but then I didn’t get back into the team and I only really came off the bench for a few cameos here and there.

“I think for any player who isn’t in the starting XI it is frustrating because naturally everyone wants to start and play football and not be sat on the bench.”

As with Ryan Edmondson and Mickel Miller, Morris has been on Keith Curle’s radar for quite some time and therefore Town’s boss jumped at the chance to finally get his man.

After twice trying to bring him to Carlisle United several years ago, it was third time lucky for Curle with the former England U20 captain signing on loan on Monday.

“One of the main reasons for coming here was getting more game-time because I want to get back to playing regular football and get into a rhythm again,” Morris continued.

“There’s a lot of games coming up and it’s Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday straightaway and that can only be a good thing for me.

“I don’t think my match fitness will be 100 per cent there straightaway but having two games every week is perfect really because it means I can right back into it again.”

With both games postponed this week due to waterlogged pitches, Town’s fixture list is clogging up. They are due to play 25 times between now and May 8, a hectic schedule which makes the addition of the versatile Morris even more important.

Asked where he sees himself slotting in, he said: “I think I can play anywhere in the system. If he wants me to play deep as a number eight, I can do that, and previously in my career I also played further forward as a number 10.

“I’m just an out-and-out midfielder. If he plays two deeper midfield players I can link up with the forward players or I’m able to help build from the back.

“I’ve got quite a lot of energy and good legs about me so I can get up and down the pitch but wherever he asks me to play, I’ll do a job for him.”