Northampton are facing some selection problems before their clash with Derby County in League One.
Derby County face seven huge games to get themselves promoted from League One into the Championship. The Rams sit second in the division, having built a four-point gap on nearest challengers Bolton Wanderers.
It’s a decent cushion for Derby manager Paul Warne, however the job is far from finished at this point. The next challenge comes at the Sixfields Stadium, where Northampton Town are their hosts, while the rest of the promotion cohort are on an international break.
It underlines the importance of getting more points on the board and making that push towards promotion. There are a few selection issues for the Cobblers to consider heading into the tie as well.
Northampton Town vs Derby County team news
Northampton boss Jon Brady is facing some headaches when it comes to his team selection for the match. Injury to defender Patrick Brough appears to have ruled him out of the tie, though leading scorer Sam Hoskins is set to return from illness.
“We are still waiting for [Patrick] Broughy to be assessed,” Brady told the official club website. “There are some specialists who will be coming back to us with his scan results so we’re just waiting on those.
“Sam’s [Hoskins] feeling better and he’s trained today [Tuesday], but otherwise we’ll probably be as we were for the weekend [against Wycombe].”
International call-ups could be set to impact the Cobblers, with Kieron Bowie joining up with the Scotland under-21s, while former Derby loanee Tony Springett is away with the Republic of Ireland under-21s. The pair may be free to feature, but at the discretion of their international managers.
“You have to plan for the worst case scenario because we’re in the hands of someone else and it’s up to the under-21 managers at international level,” Brady claimed. “We have spoken to Kieron’s [Bowie] manager at Scotland and he’s got to make his own choice and his own selection and to be fair Kieron he has started every single game so at the moment we are in the hands of them.”
Derby promotion hopes
Derby will need to be at their best in their final seven games, with a run of form that could see them guarantee promotion. It starts at Northampton though, knowing that three points would inch them closer to the finish line, while teams behind could be looking at a mountain to climb, despite games in hand.