Lee Nicholls was a player the Cobblers ‘definitely had to keep’, according to manager Aidy Boothroyd.
The goalkeeper signed a new loan deal at Sixfields from parent club Wigan Athletic which will run until then end of the season.
Nicholls has played the bulk of the current campaign for Town, deputising for first-choice keeper Shane Higgs, who missed nine months of competitive action after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon in January, and has been a resounding success.
But as well as his on-field qualities, the coaching staff have been pleased with his character in training, something Boothroyd admits is always an unknown quantity regardless of the level of research put into a signing.
“When I’m bringing in permanent signings, I like to go and delve into them and find out all about them and do my homework,” he said.
“You never really know a person until you’ve worked with them but you’ve got to do all you can.
“As far as loans are concerned, there may be an added challenge of them never playing league football before.
“They may have only played under 21 football where the style of the games is different and there’s not many people watching and the games don’t mean too much.
“You never know how players are going to respond psychologically.
“Lee Nicholls is a loan that we definitely had to keep.”
Boothroyd has been delighted with the performances of Nicholls’, who many rate to be the manager’s best loan signing (alongside Clarke Carlisle) since he arrived at the club a year ago, and who forms a trio of goalkeepers that provide solid depth in that department.
“I’m very pleased because I think when players come out on loan, you know that they are going to come out and make mistakes and they’re not the finished article, but you hope they learn very quickly and their talent carries them through,” he said. “Lee has been exceptional as a person and as a player.
“At the moment as goalkeepers are concerned we are in a really good place with Lee, Shane and Dean Snedker.”
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