Striker Collins to make Cobblers debut at leaders Plymouth Argyle

James Collins will make his Cobblers debut at Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday

Town boss Chris Wilder confirmed that Collins, who was signed last week on loan from Shrewsbury Town until the end of the season, will play in the top-versus-second encounter at Home Park.

“James is raring to go,” said Wilder. “He has trained a couple of times, and I should imagine that he is excited about the prospect of playing in our team having watched the game on Saturday.

“He is a great kid to work with, he has fitted in straight away with the players, and he will make his debut tomorrow night.”

As well as the addition of Collins, Wilder will also be delighted that the Cobblers suffered no fresh injuries in Saturday’s 2-2 FA Cup third round draw with Milton Keynes Dons, saying they got through the match ‘unscathed’.

The team is travelling to Devon today, and will stop off to train on the way, and Wilder is delighted with how his players are performing at the moment.

Asked what shape the squad is in ahead of the Plymouth game, Wilder said: “We are alright, a little bit tired, but the general feeling after Saturday’s game was one of disappointment, but they shouldn’t be disappointed.

“They are playing really well and we have made huge strides.

“The players seem to be enjoying their football, they enjoy playing for this football club and the supporters, and they have nothing to be down about because their performance on Saturday was excellent.

“We are a touch disappointed not to progress, but we quickly have to get over that, and the good thing is everybody is playing really well, we are bang in form, and we have a lot of good games to look forward to coming up.”

And he added: “We have a massive game on Tuesday night, and one that is a big, big test for us.

“We are in the same boat as a lot of clubs in that we are really struggling for training facilities at the moment, because of the weather.

“I spoke to Paul Tisdale (Exeter manager) and they have trained on 4G for the past three or four weeks, so we are all in the same situation.

“We were meant to be training here (at Sixfields) today, but we are under water here, we are under water at the training ground.

“We have found a venue, so we will train en-route and the head to the hotel.”