Chris Hackett is rated as ‘50-50’ to be passed fit to play for the Cobblers against Port Vale at Sixfields on Saturday (2pm kick-off).
But the club received some further bad news on the injury front when it was confirmed midfielder Ben Harding has suffered a setback in his recovery from an Achilles problem.
Hackett picked up a groin strain early in the second half of the 4-0 defeat at Barnet last Friday night and missed the 1-0 home loss to Bradford City on Tuesday.
“Chris is probably 50-50 for Saturday but I’m not sure on that one, I’ll need to have a bit of a look at it,” said Cobblers manager Aidy Boothroyd, who admits his team are going through some ‘choppy waters’ at the moment.
“Thankfully it’s just a one or two-week injury, it’s not one of the long-term ones so we should have him back fairly soon.
“As far as Ben is concerned, he’s perhaps going to be a little bit longer. He’s had to go back into the boot because of a complication with his injury so Chris and Johnno are the nearest ones to a return.”
If Hackett does not get the green light to play against second-placed Vale, he should be fit for the FA Cup first-round tie against Bradford on November 3, where he could also be joined by John Johnson, who has made almost a complete recovery after having keyhole surgery on damaged knee ligaments.
“Next week we should have those two back,” he said. “We don’t have a midweek game, which helps. When you’ve got everyone fit and you’re playing Saturday-Tuesday it’s great, you want the games.
“But when you’ve got players injured you’re having to try all sorts of different stuff.”
David Artell (Achilles) and Luke Guttridge (foot) are not expected to resume first-team training until January.
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