COLIN CALDERWOOD insists he's got the strength in depth in his Cobblers squad to cope with the loss of Ian Taylor.
It was confirmed yesterday that the influential 37-year-old will be out for up to six weeks after breaking his arm in the 3-0 Sixfields defeat to Carlisle United.
With David Rowson, Josh Low and Martin Smith now back from injury, Calderwood has plenty of options in midfield to replace Taylor, who may not feature again until the end of April.
And the manager is confident he has the manpower available to fill in for a player that has been a big presence in the middle of the park for his side this season.
"Although we've lost Ian Taylor we had Josh, David Rowson and Pedj Bojic sitting in the stand on Friday night," he said.
"That shows how strong our bench was and we've got plenty of strength in depth.
"As long as we don't get a rash of injuries between now and the end of the season we'll be okay."
Calderwood confirmed in yesterday's Chron that he feels at least another six wins should secure automatic promotion for his Town side.
But he also revealed he's got an eye on the losses column, which he says cannot be allowed to grow between now and the end of the season.
"We've had six defeats and you don't really want to be heading into double figures on that front," he said.
"We've just got to make sure we do well in our next three games in the league and they're very important games for us now.
"In the past few seasons teams have come from nowhere and teams have thrown it away a little bit. We've got to make sure we're not one of those teams."
The Cobblers face three big games in eight days as they travel to Mansfield on Saturday before going to Boston next Wednesday night and then playing host to Notts County on March 25.