Match Preview: Bristol Rovers v Northampton Town

Until deep into stoppage time on Tuesday night, the Cobblers and Bristol Rovers sat level on points in League One. But that sickener of a late leveller against the ten men of Town means that we’ll need to win on Saturday if we’re to leapfrog our opponents, with whom we share so much angst and history.

 

The heroics from the Cobblers in the 1998 playoff semi-final will always come up before, during and after any meeting with Bristol Rovers but the Gas now how their own, albeit dubious, piece of history to wave in our faces every time we meet. Their 2022 promotion after a ludicrous 7-0 home win over Scunthorpe United saw Town drop into the playoffs but the clubs are now back on a level playing field and emotions will be running high at the Memorial Stadium.

 

The only emphasis that Jon Brady will be pumping into his players, though, will be of collecting three points to distance ourselves from the bottom four places that creep closer every now and again before we come up with a result to settle the nerves.

 

But as we head to the west country, we face a task made slightly more unpredictable than it would have been a few days ago.

 

Bristol Rovers come into Saturday in transition after they sent Joey Barton packing earlier this week. A draw with Stevenage, that followed up last Saturday’s 4-1 hammering at Burton, was the final game in charge for Barton and the Gas now go searching for a new boss that can take them back in the right direction in League One.

 

A 17th place finish in their first season back in League One last season would have been par for the course but the hope was that, with a good summer transfer window that promised plenty, they could kick on this time out. But, despite five points from a tricky opening three games of Portsmouth, Barnsley and Charlton, Rovers have been inconsistent since and lost three of Barton’s final five games in charge. His extraordinary singling out of Luke Thomas in their 2-0 loss at Peterborough added another peg in a long list of controversies for Barton and probably didn’t help his cause, the same way as alienating elements of his own fan base didn’t.

 

But Barton is now the past for the Gas and they go looking for a new manager. It’s unlikely to be sorted before the weekend but Dean Holden, Neil Harris and Steve Cotterill are among the early front runners.

 

It all makes their lineup and tactics an unknown quantity for the Cobblers going into Saturday and this could well go either way.