Cobblers boss Boothroyd to run the rule over new players at Corby

Town head to Steel Park for what has become a traditional warm-up match and in which, this season, the Maunsell Cup will be at stake.

Boothroyd will be without on-trial striker Liam Dickinson, who injured his hamstring in the game against Peterborough on Saturday and whose future at the club appears in doubt.

Central midfielder Gary Deegan and right-back Kevin Amankwaah will play as they continue their quest for Sixfields contracts, while there will also be game time for another trialist, Darren Purse, and David Artell in defence.

Striker JJ Hooper could get another chance to impress as Boothroyd continues his search for a striker - and there could be some other additions too.

“There’s every chance there could be some new faces in,” he said. “We’ll look to maybe bring in a couple and have a look at a couple more in that game.”

Boothroyd has tailored his pre-season schedule to give his players as varied a test as possible and the Corby game should present a robust physical challenge.

The Cobblers were beaten 2-1 at Steel Park last pre-season and while that was an annoyance, the game will primarily be about getting minutes into some of the players on the fringes of the first team.

“We’ll go as strong as we can and there will be a few players who didn’t play on Saturday who will need to get a game in,” he said.

“All of the friendlies we have got will give us something different.

“I picked them because they will all present us with a different kind of problem.

“Peterborough played a diamond against us, for example - now, we might not see that in league two, but we might when we play MK Dons, so you have to be ready for these things.”

Admission prrices for the game at Corby are: Adults £8, over-60s £4, under-16s £2.