Shaun McWilliams could return for Cobblers but others need more time to recover

Shaun McWilliams could make his first appearance in Northampton’s matchday squad this season against Cheltenham on Saturday as the midfielder closes in on a return from an Achilles injury suffered in pre-season.

The 25-year-old sustained the problem in Town’s penultimate friendly against Kidderminster Harriers and is yet to feature in any of the club’s opening five matches, but he is back in training and could be on the bench at Whaddon Road.

However, Saturday’s game is likely to come too soon for goalkeeper Lee Burge, defender Ali Koiki and midfielder Ben Fox. There are also doubts over Aaron McGowan who missed the win over Peterborough with an unspecified problem.

"I don’t want to put too much of a timeframe on those players but I think Ali will be a bit longer,” said Jon Brady. “Shaun will hopefully be there or thereabouts this week and Burgey might be a push too far for Cheltenham but we don’t know at the moment.

"We aren’t trying to put any time limits on them because we want to make sure that we let them listen to their bodies and let the medical department do their thing and when we get the feedback we’ll react to it.

"With the size of the squad of our squad, you’re always on tenterhooks but we’re trying to be cautious and make sure we are looking out for the long-term and so far I feel it’s been better and I’ve had some good selection headaches.”