Cobblers boss Boothroyd to give Dickinson future ‘a lot of thought’

Dickinson played for the Cobblers as a trialist in their 1-0 defeat against Peterborough United on Saturday but lasted just 21 minutes before suffering a hamstring strain.

The injury is likely to keep the striker out for around three weeks, meaning he would not be available for any of the club’s remaining friendly matches.

“He’s going to be out for a period of time so I need to have a good think about that one,” said Boothroyd, who hopes to make a contract offer to midfielder Gary Deegan this weekend and also gave right-back Kevin Amankwaah 90 minutes against Posh.

“When you’ve got a squad that is tight as the one we have got then everybody has got to be able to contribute and everybody has got to be able to play.

“We could bring Maradona in but it’s no use if he doesn’t play, is it? He’d just be a name on a squad sheet.

“So I need to give that a bit of thought.”

Despite losing Dickinson to injury and the game to a Tyrone Barnett goal, Boothroyd was pleased with the match against the Posh, in which he gave eight players the full 90 minutes.

“It was the first complete game for a lot of the players and that was good to get that in,” he said.

“They were fantastic for the first 20 minutes and we did well to contain that, we managed the match well and stuck to our guns.

“In the second half, particularly in the first 25 minutes, we had the best of the possession but didn’t do enough to trouble them really.

“Their quality told in the goal that they scored but I was pleased with it overall, it was a good work-out and we got to integrate some players.”

Meanwhile, Boothroyd confirmed that club captain Kelvin Langmead will be out of action for around three months after undergoing knee surgery on Thursday.