George Cox and Shaun McWilliams eyeing Northampton return

Posted Thursday, April 11, 2019 by PA

Northampton are hoping to have George Cox and Shaun McWilliams available for the League Two clash with Mansfield on Saturday.

On-loan left-back Cox damaged ankle ligaments against Cambridge in January in only his second game since joining on loan from Brighton and has been doing his rehabilitation back with his parent club.

But he has returned to training at Northampton this week and is firmly in the thoughts of boss Keith Curle.

Midfielder McWilliams missed last weekend’s draw with Notts County after suffering a minor hamstring problem but was expected to return to full training before the end of the week.

Defender Ben Turner will be missing for Mansfield.

The 30-year-old was substituted at half-time during the 1-0 victory over Cambridge last weekend after suffering a calf strain and is expected to be out for between 10 and 14 days.

Young midfielder Alistair Smith is being kept away from the first team because of an allergy problem, while forward Danny Rose played for the reserves team on Tuesday as he continues to build up his match fitness after returning from two months out with injury as a substitute last weekend.

Nicky Ajose, Craig Davies, Jordan Graham, Bobby Olejnik and Hayden White all remain sidelined.