Nolan 'excited' by Kyle Edwards' potential after admitting midfielder almost joined Cobblers earlier in the summer
Kevin Nolan is ‘excited’ to see Kyle Edwards in competitive action for the Cobblers – and admits the midfielder could have joined the club much earlier in the summer had things worked out differently.
The 27-year-old has impressive pedigree having played in the Championship for Ipswich, West Brom and Oxford United, but he’s been blighted by constant injury setbacks over the last couple of seasons.
Edwards, who has signed a contract until the January transfer window, spent the whole of pre-season on trial at Sixfields and was close to penning a deal in July before suffering an injury in a friendly against Norwich.
He also featured against Brackley Town and Cambridge United and remained with the club following his injury before agreeing a permanent deal on deadline day to become Northampton’s 15th summer addition.
"We brought Kyle in early in pre-season and he did well with us,” explained Nolan. “He obviously has good pedigree, he's a good calibre of player, and he's fitted in really well with the group.
"He picked up an injury in one of the friendlies and that's something that has plagued him over the last couple of years, so we had to be careful and nurse him back and get him back up to speed.
"It was something we could have done a bit earlier in the summer but we wanted to wait and just check that he was able to get through all of the work that we gave him and then build him up from there. The next bit for him is game-time.
"He's a really good addition. It suits him and it suits us and hopefully we'll see get the best of Kyle Edwards and everybody will see that over the next few months and he can extend his deal and he can be a Northampton player for longer. I was really pleased to get him in and I'm excited to see him in the shirt.”
Another tick in the box for Edwards was the way he integrated himself into the squad, with Nolan adding: "When you bring lads in, you have to see how they react to the group and how the group react to them and he's been a big part of our group over the last few weeks.
"He's not had the game-time because of the injury but he's settled in really well and we just need to build him up and get him to where he needs to be. Hopefully we will see the best of him and we'll give him an opportunity to do that. He’s a player I'm excited about.”