Fleetwood Town will aim to jump out of the bottom four in the League One table on Saturday, when they travel to Sixfields to take on Northampton Town.
Following back-to-back defeats, the visitors find themselves two points adrift of safety in 21st spot, while their hosts climbed to 13th spot with an upturn in form before a weekend loss.
Match preview
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Northampton Town will return to Sixfields on Saturday with the aim of bouncing back from a defeat last time out and continuing their recent improvement in League One.
On the back of a five-match winless run in October, including four losses and a single draw, the Cobblers sat on just 14 points from 15 outings in England's third tier, but they would then reverse their fortunes in impressive fashion, putting three consecutive victories together to quickly climb back up the division.
That began with a 2-0 triumph at home to Burton Albion, either side of FA Cup and EFL Trophy defeats, before Jon Brady's side made it back-to-back three-point hauls by beating Cambridge United 2-1 on home turf thanks to goals from Kieron Bowie and Sam Hoskins.
A tough trip to Blackpool then followed, and the Cobblers won by the same scoreline in impressive fashion at Bloomfield Road last Tuesday, with Bowie and Hoskins again on the scoresheet, before the winning run was brought to an abrupt end at the weekend, as leaders Portsmouth dished out a 3-0 beating at Sixfields thanks to Sean Raggett's opener and a Paddy Lane brace.
While left disappointed at the end of a pleasing streak, Northampton Town cannot be too disheartened with a loss to League One's frontrunners and should certainly still take confidence from their recent form with the aim of making a swift return to winning ways on Saturday to stand a chance of improving on their current position in 13th place.
In their way stand a Fleetwood Town side who are also fighting to return to winning ways, with the visitors sat two points adrift of safety in the relegation zone.
In their opening 18 outings, the Cod Army have managed 16 points, thanks in no small part to an upturn following the September appointment of Lee Johnson, who arrived with the Lancashire outfit sat on just a single point from six games.
After adding seven points to their tally in his first six league matches at the helm, Fleetwood moved closer to safety with an impressive run across late October and early November, going unbeaten for four straight fixtures as they beat Reading 2-1 and Exeter City 3-0 either side of creditable draws with promotion-chasers Barnsley and Blackpool.
They have since been unable to succeed in their bid to extend that run any further, though, heading into the weekend on the back of consecutive heavy defeats as they were firstly beaten 3-0 at home to high-flying Stevenage, before losing by the same scoreline away at Lancashire rivals Wigan Athletic last weekend as Jordan Jones, Sean Clare and Tom Pearce all found the net for the hosts.
While their confidence will have certainly taken a knock from those two results and 4-0 and 3-0 defeats to Cambridge United and Derby County in the FA Cup and EFL Trophy respectively in their last two games, Johnson's men have still given their survival hopes a real boost in recent weeks, and still with just a two-point gap to safety at this early stage, the Cod Army will hope to move out of the bottom four with an away triumph at the weekend.
Team News
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Following their 3-0 home defeat to Portsmouth last time out, Jon Brady will likely look to make several changes to his Northampton Town team on Saturday, with Will Hondermarck and Jon Guthrie both in line to come in from the outset after featuring off the bench last weekend.
Louis Appere is also vying to return from the start in attack, although Fulham loanee Kieron Bowie should again lead the line having netted his first two goals for the club in recent weeks.
Sam Hoskins will continue to play a starring role in the attack from the left wing, having notched up 11 goals alongside two assists in 19 League One appearances so far this term, after helping to fire them to promotion with 22 fourth-tier goals last time around.
Lee Johnson also has reason to make several changes to his Fleetwood Town side on Saturday, and Jayden Stockley will fight to return to the front line from the outset alongside Jack Marriott, although Kabongo Tshimanga is also fighting to feature up top from the start.
Elsewhere, Danny Mayor and Josh Vela are also in line for returns and should join Ryan Broom in the engine room, while Ben Heneghan, Bosun Lawal and Josh Earl should again line up in the middle of the defence if Johnson sticks with a back five.
Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Thompson; McGowan, Guthrie, Sherring, Brough; Pinnock, McWilliams, Hondermarck; Appere, Bowie, Hoskins
Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:
Lynch; Johnston, Lawal, Heneghan, Earl, Patterson; Broom, Mayor, Vela; Stockley, Marriott
We say: Northampton Town 2-0 Fleetwood Town
While Fleetwood have certainly shown signs of improvement on the whole under Lee Johnson, they lack confidence heading to Sixfields and may not have enough to come away with a result against Brady's side, who will be keen to return to their best after a minor setback last time out.
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