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Injuries taking their toll on Northampton Northampton manager Aidy Boothroyd does not expect much change to his injury-plagued squad ahead of the visit of Port Vale. Boothroyd says the current injury crisis, which has deprived him of a handful of senior players including Chris Hackett, David Artell (Achilles), John Johnson (knee), Ben Harding (ankle) and Luke Guttridge (foot), is the worst he has ever known. "We are pretty much as we were in terms of bodies for Saturday," said Boothroyd, who is looking to make a loan signing ahead of the weekend. "I've never had a situation as bad as this in my managerial career. "We have got to get them back as fast as we can and the lads that come in have got to step up." Chris Hackett is rated at 50/50 and the midfielder will undergo a fitness test on his groin injury. Boothroyd added: "There are players out there with experience who we could bring in, but like with anyone that we bring in, they have got to fit with what we are trying to do. I'm certainly not going to panic and I think what we've got to do is take a deep breath, try and assess what we've got and then try and bring the right one or maybe two in, and that could happen for Saturday." Port Vale will be without defenders Clayton McDonald and Richard Duffy. McDonald must serve a one-match suspension after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season during the 1-1 draw with Burton on Tuesday night. Youngster Joe Davis or old-hand Gareth Owen will partner stand-in skipper John McCombe at the heart of the defence. Duffy did not emerge for the second half at the Pirelli Stadium in midweek after sustaining a knock. Adam Yates replaced him and he is likely to start in Duffy's absence. Captain Doug Loft (calf) and Ryan Burge (knee) remain on the sidelines. The game at Sixfields will kick-off at 2pm to prevent a clash with Northampton Saints Rugby Club who also have a home fixture on Saturday.