Kieron Bowie (dead leg) has been passed fit for the pre-Christmas visit of Oxford United to Sixfields on Saturday, kick off 3pm.

“Kieron trained this week and he is fine,” confirmed boss Jon Brady.

“Louis Appere hasn’t been able to get on the grass yet which is frustrating for all of us.

“We need him back but I’m not sure how long he is going to be out for.

“It is a bit frustrating at the moment only having one attacking substitute available and one midfielder but with the changes we made during the game on Saturday we did manage to shuffle things round a little bit and it worked in the end.

“The squad will need managing over these next four games, some players will be earmarked to play certain games and that’s the way it is going to have to be.

“A lot of our players have families and we are going to give them Christmas day to spend that time with them. It’s trying to get that balance right, you have to trust your players and I’m sure they will be ready to go for Boxing Day.”