Suspended defender with his take on this weekend's game
Defender and media student David Buchanan has been ruled out of the Bury game through suspension.
He took the opportunity to attend the pre-match media conference as a journalist this week to help his studies, and below is his preview of Saturday's game at Bury.
Northampton Town manager Justin Edinburgh is challenging his side to secure mathematical safety this weekend. The Cobblers passed the 50-point mark some weeks ago, but haven’t yet been able to achieve mathematical safety, and Edinburgh feels this shows just how competitive League 1 is.
Safety will be assured this weekend if the Cobblers win or draw at Bury, or if Port Vale or Shrewsbury lose, and Edinburgh wants to get the job done at Bury. He said:
"I think it shows you how competitive this division is, how open it has been all season apart from Sheffield United who have been the one and only stand out team. You look at Bolton now, four or five weeks ago they probably thought they had second position sealed for automatic promotion and quite clearly that’s not the case yet. I just think that’s down to the competitiveness of this league and that everyone on their day is capable of putting in a performance.
"Everything is in our hands and the remit when I walked through the door was to keep the team in this division for next season, and we are closer now than we were then."
However, the Cobblers will travel north with some selection issues to contend with. Red cards to David Buchanan and John-Joe O’Toole mean the pair are suspended on Saturday, with the former ending a run of 106 consecutive appearances. With injuries ruling out Luke Williams and Gregg Wylde, as well as longer term victims Sam Hoskins and Gabriel Zakuani, there are some selection issues for Edinburgh to consider:
"Both players (Buchanan and O’Toole) have been excellent for me since I’ve come in to the club, but like I always say their absence gives someone else an opportunity to come in and put a performance in and show me their value to the club," he said.