Northampton Town: Nolan Explains England Duty Load For Wheatley
Northampton Town boss Kevin Nolan says Ethan Wheatley’s international schedule was “not ideal” after the Manchester United loanee featured for England U20s less than 24 hours before Cobblers faced Rotherham United.
Wheatley, 19, came off the bench for England in a 1-0 loss to Switzerland at St George’s Park and then travelled down the M1 to be among the substitutes. An early injury to Jack Vale meant Wheatley entered the match after 21 minutes as Northampton were beaten 2-1. Nolan praised Wheatley’s effort while outlining the balancing act between club preparation and international opportunities.
“It’s not 100 percent ideal for us, but we understand and we don’t want to take that opportunity away from him… We have conversations with the FA about managing his minutes.”
He added that the exposure at St George’s Park was valuable:
“It’s a great opportunity for all the young lads and you don’t want to take that away from them, but the preparation wasn’t what we would have liked for a Saturday game.”
Nolan said Northampton will “look after” the forward after an unexpectedly long outing on league duty.