Banbury United sign Cobblers pro ahead of West Brom visit

Ahead of their first pre-season friendly hosting West Bromwich Albion Under 23s on Saturday, Banbury United have welcomed back winger Morgan Roberts after he impressed on loan from Northampton Town a couple of seasons ago.

Roberts, 20, the younger brother of defender Connor who has been playing for Banbury since August 2019, said: “I’ve known the club for a while and I really enjoyed being part of it back when I was here before. I can’t wait to get going and see the fans back in the ground.”

Manager Andy Whing said: “This is a fantastic signing for us and I’m sure the fans will be delighted to see Morgan back.

“Our attacking options look really promising now and Morgan adds great quality to that.”

Roberts scored four goals in 11 games in his previous spell with the Puritans.

He had been with the Cobblers since he joined their academy at the age of ten, making his first team debut in the final game of the 2017/18 season and then going on to sign a three-year professional contract.

Following an in-house game last week, Whing was very impressed with his three signings so far, Roberts, Ben Acquaye and Charlie Pattison.

“I wanted a bit more energy and pace in the team from last season and we’ve done that with them,” he said in a club interview.

“Our recruitment is ongoing, it’s frustrating at times. Players we are looking for are always going to be looking at the next level which is totally understandable so sometimes we wait, sometimes we move on.

“We will wait for the ones we want and it may be a smaller squad this year, but better quality.”

Whing also had a runout in the game, gaining a different perspective, listening to the players on the pitch and seeing what they see.

“I really enjoyed it, won’t do it too often but it’s just nice to get the boots back on,” he added. “I loved it!

“We haven’t played since Canvey Island last November so it’s going to take three, four or five weeks to get match fit.

“The lads have had a tough week with a couple of running sessions and testing as well, but a really promising week so we’re looking forward getting fans back in and playing West Brom.

“We might have to control the tempo a bit more as we haven’t played for such a while and obviously they are working day in day out and we only see the boys two nights a week. It’s going to be a challenge the next few weeks and we want to get through it with all fit players - and we will have a few triallists in there as well. It’s looking promising.”

Saturday’s opening friendly against West Brom U23s kicks-off at the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium at 3pm with tickets available in advance at https://banburyunitedfc.ktckts.com/ or on the gate.