Northampton Town 0 Leicester City 1: As it happened
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Cobblers v Leicester City LIVE
Key Events
- Town kick-off pre-season campaign against strong opposition
- Eight trialists on the bench as two new signings start
- Several key players still missing due to injury
Football is back!
Hello and welcome to a very blustery Sixfields. It’s more November than July but most importantly football is back!
Cobblers get their pre-season campaign up and running against strong opposition as Championship side Leicester City make the short trip to Sixfields.
We’ll have team news, live updates and more on this page.
Who will feature?
Predicting the line-up for a pre-season friendly is a near-impossible task but Jon Brady is limited somewhat by the players he has available.
This game might have come too soon for some, including captain Jon Guthrie, vice-skipper Aaron McGowan and midfielder Ben Fox, but others such as Ali Koiki and Jack Sowerby could be involved.
With several players still missing, quite a few trialists could be involved. Not all are going to be potential new signings but Brady will be running the rule over their performances nontheless.
New signings Patrick Brough and Manny Monthé should also feature, plus returning loanee Kieron Bowie, while one or two youngsters may also be given a run-out.
Potential starting XI
Let’s have a stab at guessing who might start for the Cobblers against Leicester:
Burge, Lintott, Sherring, Monthé, Brough, McWilliams, Hondermarck, Hoskins, Pinnock, Bowie, Apperé
Looking smart!
Cobblers will be donning their new away strip - which was unveiled earlier today - against Leicester. I’m a fan personally. Simple but smart.
Patrick Brough among the starters for the Cobblers. Otherwise it’s pretty much the team that finished last season.
Burge, Lintott, Sherring, Dyche, Brough, McWilliams, Hondermarck, Hoskins, Pinnock, Bowie, Apperé
The bench includes eight trialists, plus Abimbola, Hart, Dadge and Jenkins.
Monthé’s absence explained
New signing Manny Monthé, whose arrival was confirmed yesterday, is not involved today. His fitness is a little behind the others and therefore he’s not quite ready to play against Leicester.
He may feature on Wednesday or, more likely, next weekend.
Where are the injured players?
No captain Jon Guthrie today. He’s still working his way back to full fitness after suffering a hamstring injury at the end of last season and is hoping to return later in pre-season. The same goes for Aaron McGowan and Ben Fox. Jack Sowerby, Ali Koiki and Akin Odimayo are nearer to being involved and we may see a couple of those against Birmingham.
Why so many trialists?!
Eight trialists is an unusually high number even for the first game of pre-season. Not all of those will be prospective new signings though, with some brought in to make up the numbers given Town’s injury issues. However, Brady will be looking at one or two with the view of potentially signing them on permanent deals.