Cobblers boss Aidy Boothroyd has admitted he may be forced to delve back in the loan market to beef up his threadbare squad and add some much-needed experience to his young squad.
Saturday’s win over Port Vale came at a cost, with striker Alex Nicholls set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines having suffered a double compound fracture of his left leg.
With the squad already looking thin, and West Brom loanee Kemar Roofe heading back to the Hawthorns, boss Boothroyd said he is looking for some older heads to come in and guide his young team through a tricky period for the club.
He said: “I’ve got to have a look at things and see what we’ve got coming back. I think I’m right in saying we’re going to have both Chris Hackett and John Johnson back next weekend which is a big plus for us but we also need to make sure we can bolster other positions.
“Kemar Roofe has gone back and I didn’t really want to lose him but I had to free up a loan to get a more senior player in because we are quite youthful at the moment.
“I like to have a balance of seniority and young players as well as a balance of footballers and athletes.” Some supporters expressed surprise at Roofe’s departure given the West Brom youngster has featured more than fellow loanee Henoc Mukendi, but Boothroyd explained the circumstances surrounding the Liverpool man’s stay at Sixfields were different.
He said: “Mukendi is on a different type of loan, they’re not the same arrangement so we’re keeping him and he’ll get his chance.”
With fixtures now coming thick and fast there is huge pressure on Boothroyd’s young squad to pick up points wherever possible and hang onto the coat tails of the division’s leading lights.
A winning run will see them there or thereabouts but a run of defeats could leave them looking precariously over their shoulders rather than onwards and upwards.
Boothroyd said: “It’s about hanging on to January to the pack and that result against Port Vale has gone a long way to doing that.
“We’ve got a break now and play Bradford in the cup next week which I’m really looking forward to and then we have got tough away games in the league at Accrington and York.
“Our away form in the league has been really poor for the standard of the player we have got now and it’s important we get some results, pick up some points and stay with the pack during what it going to be a hectic November and December period. We’ll dig in and get on with it.”
To help do that Boothroyd is looking to recruit an experienced player who can help add steel and knowledge to his crop of talented youngsters.
He said: “We need to get the senior players right and get some more in. We have got some good characters at the club and they are going to have to help the kids along and everyone’s going to have to step up that little bit more.
“Any player that comes in will be older than what we’ve got, but that’s not difficult because we are very young.
“We’ve got some decent players and we just need to get that blend and that toughness to get us through.”
 |  |