Former Cobblers midfielder Hornby has chance at Sheffield Wednesday

Hornby departed Sixfields at the end of last season, with Town boss Chris Wilder deciding not to offer the 20-year-old a new deal.

He hasn’t played a first-team game since the league two play-off final at Wembley in May, 2013, as a string of injuries ruled him out of contention.

But Hornby has recently been on trial with Wednesday and had been training with the Owls Under-18 squad before they departed for their tour of Portugal last week.

Wednesday head coach Carlos Carvalhal said: “He is not our player so we did not put him in the game with Alfreton (last Saturday).

“He has trained with us one time. He will continue training with us to check him to see if he is good enough for a deal with us.”

Hornby, who is Northampton-born and came through the youth team ranks at Sixfields, broke into the Cobblers first team under then manager Aidy Boothroyd as a 17-year-old in the 2012-13 season.

He made 29 appearances in all as Town reached the play-off final, where Hornby was a second-half substitute as Bradford City romped to a 3-0 victory.

Hornby, who signed a two-and-a-half year Sixfields deal in January 2013, developed a back problem the following summer and although he did play in pre-season before the injury was properly diagnosed, he was missing for the entire 2013-14 campaign.

He did manage to overcome that long-term problem, and was fit enough to make the bench for the first team on various occasions last season, but did not take to the field.

A series of knee and groin problems meant he didn’t make an appearance for Wilder.

At the time of Hornby’s departure, the Cobblers boss said: “The boy hasn’t played football for two years, and sometimes you come to a decision between yourself and the coaching staff that maybe he needs to get himself up and running somewhere else.

“He maybe needs a new environment to get himself working at.

“It is a shame because when I came to the club people were talking about him in good light, but I haven’t been able to see him kick a ball really, not even in training for quite a while.

“But hopefully he will get over his injury problems and get himself going.”