Northampton Town closing in on permanent Clarke Carlisle deal

The centre-back, whose second loan spell at Sixfields concluded with the win over Aldershot on December 22, is a free agent after his six-month contract at York City expired.

Carlisle will go into the matchday squad for the game against Fleetwood at Sixfields on Saturday (3pm kick-off) after missing the New Year’s Day win over Dagenham because he could not be registered as the transfer window was closed.

Northampton have no fresh injury concerns for the visit of Fleetwood, with defenders John Johnson and David Artell scheduled to return to full training on Monday.

Manchester City loanee Emyr Huws’ deal expires after the weekend game, and manager Aidy Boothroyd will make a decision on whether to extend it or not at that time.

Three other loan players - Danny East (Hull City), Henoc Mukendi (Liverpool) and Chris Smith (Swindon) have now all returned to their parent clubs.