Johnson explains decision on duo

Northampton manager Gary Johnson has explained his decision to make Jake Robinson and Bas Savage available for loan.

Both players have failed to impress Johnson since arriving at the club in the summer. The duo are not technically transfer-listed as no permanent deals can take place until the window re-opens in January. But it is understood that any club that takes either player at this stage could be doing so with a view to a full-time deal in the new year. "As a manager I've got to make some decisions with January coming up. They were obviously disappointed when I told them, but that's just human nature," Johnson told the club's official website. "Lads their age need to be playing games and I can't see either of them being regulars in the first team in the near future. "I'm disappointed I've had to make Jake available, but when he has started games he hasn't quite been the player that we hoped he would be. I thought he did fantastic in pre-season so we've been waiting and waiting for his game to come out and for him to get his goal; we thought if he got his first goal it would settle him down but that hasn't happened. "Bas has not been getting the first-team games he would have hoped, and that we would have hoped. He is out of contract in January anyway so he needs to see if there is anything out there for him for the future."