Tom Eaves edging closer to return after surgery
Tom Eaves is edging closer to a return to training but it’ll be a few more weeks at least until he’s fit enough to be included in a matchday squad.
The 33-year-old, the only out-and-out striker on Northampton’s books at present, suffered a series of unfortunate injuries throughout last season, including a fractured eye socket and broken nose, and it all culminated in a torn thigh sustained in training the day before Cobblers drew 0-0 with Reading in early April.
Eaves went under the knife a week later, forcing him to miss the last three weeks of the season, and while manager Kevin Nolan had initially hoped that he would return for pre-season, further tests revealed a particularly bad tear to the thigh.
The former Rotherham, Gillingham and Hull man has done some gentle running in pre-season, and he stepped up his recovery when the squad were out in Spain for a training camp, but he is being managed carefully to avoid a repeat of last season’s injury issues.
"Tom is close to getting back on the grass again but he's a player who will have to go through a mini pre-season and we need to take our time with him,” explained Nolan.
"We're going to be careful because he spent a lot of time on the sidelines last season and we don't want that to be the case again. We have to make sure he's 110 per cent ready and he's where we want and need him to be before we start seeing him in training and we put him back in the squad again.”
Liam Shaw and Jon Guthrie, who both suffered ACL injuries midway through last season, are not expected to return for several more months. It is hoped that both men will play again in 2025, though that is not guaranteed.