Sidelined duo close to returning but Cobblers suffer fresh injury blow
Tom Eaves and Ben Fox are both on their way back from injury – but Cobblers have suffered a fresh blow with the news that Ali Koiki faces another spell on the sidelines.
The left-back started just two league games during an injury-ravaged 2023/24 campaign but he had been hoping for better luck this season after a decent pre-season.
Koiki started two of Town’s first four games but was not in the squad for Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers, with manager Jon Brady confirming afterwards that he’s set for more time out.
In better news, Fox and Eaves are recovering well. Fox started the first two games of the season but has not played since while Eaves is yet to feature for the club after joining in the summer.
"I think Tom will start to get on the grass this week,” said Brady. “He's done a lot of rehab and it'll probably be another two or three weeks until he's available. Ben Fox isn't far off as well.
"Unfortunately, Ali has taken an injury and he'll be out for quite a while, which is frustrating. Apart from that we're hoping Foxy and Eaves return soon.”
Goalkeeper Lee Burge will need to be assessed this week after coming off in the second half against Wycombe. He went down with a hamstring injury before half-time but it was not clear whether that was the problem that eventually forced him off.
"We have tried to debrief the goals so we haven't had a chance to go over the injuries,” said Brady in his post-match interview.