Cobblers ace Holmes set to play a part at Sheffield

Cobblers boss Chris Wilder expects Ricky Holmes to return from injury in Friday night’s pre-season friendly at Sheffield FC.

Holmes has not played since the 5-2 win at Worthing earlier this month due to a minor strain.

But news of his return will be a major boost with the Sky Bet League Two curtain raiser at Bristol Rovers just around the corner, on August 8.

Evan Horwood and Brendan Moloney remain sidelined, but Wilder says they are also making good progress after groin and knee operations respectively.

“Hopefully Ricky will play a part this week,” Wilder said.

“It may come a bit too soon for Brendan and Evan, but they’re both making really good progress.

“We’ve got a lot of good players who aren’t even getting changed at the moment, but we’ll get them back fit.

“We’re happy with the group but we’re still trying to do various bits and pieces.

“We’ll roll on to this week and see what happens.”