Plus Cobblers hoping to extend keeper loan
Cobblers boss Aidy Boothroyd is hopeful of having both Chris Hackett and John Johnson available for this Saturday’s FA Cup first round tie against Bradford City at Sixfields.
“John and Chris are both back in training so providing they come through that okay they will be available for Saturday,” confirmed Boothroyd.
“Ben Harding is making good progress and we think he may only be two to three weeks away. He’s improving very quickly so we have got some positive news around all the negative stuff.
“Alex Nicholls is still in hospital and we are probably looking at six to nine months for him. He’s had a skin graft and his shin is pinned so that is going to be a long job.
“Alex has been fantastic for us, he is a great character and I’m absolutely sure he would have gone on to score 20 goals this season.
“There are plenty of players who wouldn’t have scored the goal that he scored on Saturday but that’s the sort of person that Alex is.
“He is a brilliant and genuine guy and we are all obviously absolutely gutted for him.
“He’s very down at the moment as you can imagine but he’s had lots of good will messages from supporters and he’s asked me to pass on his thanks for that.
“I’d also like to thank all those people around the club who acted so quickly on Saturday to get Alex sorted and into hospital, including the club doctor, Stuart Barker the physio and all the St John’s ambulance people and the paramedics.”