Revan finally set to make his Cobblers debut as Brady vows to go 'quite strong' against Walsall

Dominic Revan finally looks in line to make his Cobblers debut when Walsall visit Sixfields in the Papa John's Trophy on Tuesday night.

The young Aston Villa defender joined Northampton on loan over a month ago but has yet to feature in a matchday squad as he builds up his fitness following injury.

However, having played in a behind-closed-doors game, tomorrow's visit of Walsall will provide Revan with a perfect opportunity to get some competitive minutes in his legs.

"It will be important for Dom," said manager Jon Brady. "We had to do some in-house fixtures and that's not always great but it helped towards his fitness and this is a good opportunity to see him in the flesh.

"It will be his first game since April and he has worked very hard to get into a position to start a match and we're really looking forward to seeing him play."

However, Brady may not make as many changes as he would otherwise have done prior to Saturday's poor performance and defeat against Sutton United.

He added: "League games are really cut and thrust and played at 100 miles per hour but this competition provides clubs an opportunity to give games to players who haven't played much.

"But we will go quite strong on Tuesday night to try and get the momentum back, especially at home, and I don't want to underestimate Walsall either because I feel they will probably go strong as well.

"I expect two strong teams to have a right go to try and get the win but this is our home and we want to get back on track and I want us to show the way we can play and what we can do."

Brady was without Jon Guthrie and Dylan Connolly, whose wife gave birth, on Saturday, as well as long-term absentees Sid Nelson and Joseph Mills.

Despite that, Michael Harriman only came on as a late substitute with midfielder Shaun McWilliams instead starting at right-back.

"I felt players on the periphery weren't quite match fit to start at the weekend," Brady added. "But now we have this game to give players opportunities to gain match fitness."