Aidy Boothroyd faces something of a conundrum when he sits down with his coaching staff and brainstorms ideas for which 11 players should start Saturday’s game against Wycombe Wanderers.
Boothroyd will chew the fat with assistant boss Andy King and goalkeeping coach Tim Flowers to establish how the returns to availability of Adebayo Akinfenwa, Chris Hackett and Ben Harding will affect selection.
Most of the team that played at Bradford played the full two hours which could make the decisions slightly easier - Lewis Wilson looked out on his feet by the time he was taken off and Clive Platt’s 35-year-old legs will have been seriously stiff on Wednesday morning (and probably on Thursday morning too).
But a fine balacing act remains.
Lewis Hornby has been very good since his rise to the first team and Ishmel Demontagnac enjoyed his best game for the club at Valley Parade.
While one swallow does not make a summer, pulling these players out of the starting line-up could impact on their morale.
And this is a group of players that has been involved in two of the best performances of the season - the Cup loss at Bradford and the league win at Accrington four days previously yielded seven goals, a more than acceptable return for two difficult away games.
To change that is to risk derailing the side’s momentum at what is a crucial stage of the campaign, in fact the manager himself has called this weekend’s match the most important so far.
The capability of and responsibility for such decisions is, however, why Boothroyd is in charge and it will be interesting to see how he plays it.
Who do you think the Cobblers should select for Saturday’s game against Wycombe? Join in the debate using our comment facility below.
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