Northampton Town Football Club

• Nickname:The Cobblers
• Founded:1897
• Manager:Aidy Boothroyd

• Ground:Sixfields
• Capacity:7653

Gray hails depleted Cobblers

14 Apr 2008 - 13:32:34

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Northampton Town boss Stuart Gray paid tribute to his illness-hit squad after Saturday's 1-1 draw with promotion-chasing Southend United.

The Cobblers were without a number of first-team players for the trip to Roots Hall, while Gray was forced to play the likes of Daniel Jones and Danny Jackman despite their lack of match fitness.

"We lost Danny Jackman and Joe Burnell to this bug on Friday, but I asked Danny if he was well enough to travel and he decided he was," said Gray.

"But then on the day of the game Giles Coke, Brett Johnson and Daniel Jones have all gone down with it.

"We stopped for a pre-match meal at a hotel and we ended up leaving Giles and Brett there because they were too ill.

And then I asked DJ (Daniel Jones) if he would play for us and he said he'd give it a go, but he might only be able to do an hour but all credit to the boy he stayed out there."