Sixfields Stadium, Saturday 14th January, KO: 15:00

In the reverse of this fixtures the Cobblers produced one of their better performances of the season even with Matty Taylor being sent off. It is fair to say that many fans are not currently optimistic of another good performance this time round, a lot has happened since that 1-1 draw back in October.

This will be the first game of the season without Rob Page, who was relieved of his duties after the Bristol Rovers mauling. At the time of writing this article it will be Page’s assistant Paul Wilkinson in the dugout who has taken caretaker charge of the team. The Cobblers also have some problems within the team as well although the defensive issues have been eased with the signing of right back Neal Eardly on a contract until the end of the season. Northampton will head in to this match without Gabriel Zakuani who is on international duty with the DR Congo at the African Cup of Nations. Also missing will be Paul Anderson who suffered a gash to his leg in the loss to Bristol Rovers whilst Brendan Moloney and Aaron Phillips remain out injured.

In better news though Lewin Nyatanga will once again be available after recovering from illness and is expected to partner Zander Diamond at the heart of the Northampton defence. Hiram Boateng is expected to keep his place in the team after he was the only player to emerge with any credit whatsoever after the heavy defeat last week. Meanwhile JJ Hooper has returned to Port Vale following the conclusion of his loan spell.

The Cobblers are currently on a poor run of form that has mustered up 9 defeats from their last 11 games. Scunthorpe go into this game in much better form sitting pretty in 2nd place after a run of just 3 defeats in their last 13 games. It is hard to predict how the team will line up against Scunthorpe as obviously it will not be Rob Page picking the team so it remains to be seen if he follows a similar way in picking the same formation with the same players or if he will bring in some of the fringe players to see if they can make an impact. Players such as Harry Beautyman and Alfie Potter have a point to prove, especially Beautyman after being hauled off on the stroke of 30 mins last week.

Can this week be the turning point for the Cobblers under caretaker Paul Wilkinson remains to be seen, but all players will be heavily motivated in order to prove themselves to any prospective managers that may be sitting in the stands.

PREDICTED LINE UP (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper- Adam Smith

Right Back- Neal Eardly

Centre Backs- Lewin Nyatanga & Zander Diamond

Left Back- David Buchanan

Central Midfielders- Hiram Boateng, Matty Taylor and John-Joe O’Toole

Left Wing- Gregg Wylde

Right Wing- Sam Hoskins

Striker- Alex Revell

BENCH- David Cornell (GK), Rod McDonald, Raheem Hanley, Jak McCourt, Harry Beautyman, Alfie Potter, Marc Richards

PREDICTION

Northampton Town 1-3 Scunthorpe United

 

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