Northampton v Port Vale preview

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Northampton manager Aidy Boothroyd does not expect much change to his injury-plagued squad.

Boothroyd says the current injury crisis, which has deprived him of a handful of senior players including Chris Hackett, David Artell (Achilles), John Johnson (knee), Ben Harding (ankle) and Luke Guttridge (foot), is the worst he has ever known.

“We are pretty much as we were in terms of bodies for Saturday,” said Boothroyd, who is looking to make a loan signing ahead of the weekend.

“I’ve never had a situation as bad as this in my managerial career.

“We have got to get them back as fast as we can and the lads that come in have got to step up.”

Chris Hackett is rated at 50/50 and the midfielder will undergo a fitness test on his groin injury.

Boothroyd added: “There are players out there with experience who we could bring in, but like with anyone that we bring in, they have got to fit with what we are trying to do. I’m certainly not going to panic and I think what we’ve got to do is take a deep breath, try and assess what we’ve got and then try and bring the right one or maybe two in, and that could happen for Saturday.”

Port Vale will be without defenders Clayton McDonald and Richard Duffy.

McDonald must serve a one-match suspension after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season during the 1-1 draw with Burton on Tuesday night.

Youngster Joe Davis or old-hand Gareth Owen will partner stand-in skipper John McCombe at the heart of the defence.

Duffy did not emerge for the second half at the Pirelli Stadium in midweek after sustaining a knock. Adam Yates replaced him and he is likely to start in Duffy’s absence.

Captain Doug Loft (calf) and Ryan Burge (knee) remain on the sidelines.

The game at Sixfields will kick-off at 2pm to prevent a clash with Northampton Saints Rugby Club who also have a home fixture on Saturday.

Port Vale will be without defenders Clayton McDonald and Richard Duffy when they travel to Northampton.

McDonald must serve a one-match suspension after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season during the 1-1 draw with Burton on Tuesday night.

Youngster Joe Davis or old-hand Gareth Owen will partner stand-in skipper John McCombe at the heart of defence.

Duffy did not emerge for the second half at the Pirelli Stadium in midweek after sustaining a knock. Adam Yates replaced him and is likely to start in Duffy’s absence.

Captain Doug Loft (calf) and Ryan Burge (knee) remain sidelined.

The game at Sixfields will kick-off at 2pm to prevent a clash with Northampton Saints Rugby Club who also have a home fixture on Saturday.

Northampton v Port Vale preview

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Northampton have no new problems ahead of the visit of Port Vale.

The Cobblers recorded back-to-back league wins for the first time since the start of October when they beat relegation rivals Macclesfield 3-2 at Sixfields on Tuesday night.

However, boss Aidy Boothroyd was not happy with the performance and changes could be in the offing as Northampton bid to climb out of the bottom two for the first time since Boxing Day.

“This club has underachieved for some time and it’s time we put that right,” said Boothroyd. “Port Vale on Saturday will be a different test to Macclesfield. It will be a tough game and if we play like we did on Tuesday then we will give ourselves a problem.

“We haven’t swept anything under the carpet and we will make sure that we are at it against Port Vale.”

Defenders Ben Tozer, Byron Webster and Jason Crowe, midfielder Ryan Gilligan and forwards Lewis Young and Jake Robinson are options for Boothroyd, but Paul Turnbull has extended his loan spell at Stockport by a further month.

Meanwhile, Chris Birchall has gained international clearance and is likely to be in the Port Vale squad for the trip to Sixfields to face Northampton.

But the midfielder, who rejoined the club this week having left Vale Park in 2006, may have to settle for a place on the bench with Micky Adams’ men having picked up 10 points from their previous four matches in League Two.

Fellow new signings Chris Shuker and Paul Marshall impressed from the substitutes’ bench in last Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Gillingham and are also pushing for starting places.

Defender Clayton McDonald has returned to training and should be available for Vale, despite picking up a hamstring injury in the game against the Gills, but Rob Taylor is still struggling with an Achilles tendon injury and is extremely doubtful.

Adam Yates (knee) and Tom Pope (groin) are out while goalkeeper Shane Higgs (Achilles) and right-back Seth Nana Ofori-Twumasi (knee) remain long-term absentees.

Northampton v Port Vale preview

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Northampton manager Ian Sampson could hand a debut to Craig King when high-flying Port Vale come to Sixfields.

King has signed on a month-long loan and could come straight into the side if Leon McKenzie is not passed fit.

McKenzie missed the FA Cup win at Forest Green last weekend after picking up a thigh strain at Lincoln and has missed training this week. He will be handed a late fitness test on Saturday morning but is unlikely to feature.

Transfer-listed forward Steve Guinan started at Forest Green and scored his second goal of the season and is another option available to Sampson.

Defender Marcus Hall is now fit after a groin strain and Sampson has no fresh injury concerns as he looks for a fourth straight win.

Port Vale welcome back top scorer Marc Richards for their trip to Northampton.

The striker, who has 10 goals to his name this season, missed last Saturday’s disappointing 1-1 draw at Dartford with a knee injury but he has recovered in time for the clash against his former club at Sixfields.

Forward Jake Speight was ineligible for the FA Cup tie so he returns to league action this weekend.

Key centre-half Lee Collins was forced off with a shin problem at half-time and is doubtful ahead of Saturday’s clash.

One of few bright spots against the non-league opponents was the return of winger Lewis Haldane for his first substitute appearance of the season following the infected insect bite to an ankle which left him in hospital, where he lost three stone in weight.

Haldane will again be hoping for more minutes from the bench while fellow attacking midfielder Rob Taylor has also recovered from his torn hamstring and will be looking to make a comeback.