Match Preview: Harrogate Town v Northampton Town

Read our preview of the Cobblers' trip to Harrogate Town.

It’s time for another Tuesday night special!

While the 1-0 win at Colchester on Saturday didn’t set the world on fire, it was a case of the result mattering a lot more than the performance and, as we head into a fixture run that could define our season, the top three is back up for grabs again.

We travel to struggling Harrogate with the aim to make it back to back wins for the first time since November and, at the very least, can go level on points with Carlisle and put the pressure on Stevenage, who go to Wimbledon on Tuesday night, should we come home with three points.

The Opposition

After 17th and 19th place finishes in League Two since entering the league, Harrogate might be forgiven for hoping for a step up this season but, for the most part, it’s been another season of struggle with a start that saw them win just twice in their opening twelve games setting them up for another slog of a campaign.

But the longest serving manager in the entire Football League, Simon Weaver, is trusted to keep the Sulpurites afloat and can still get a performance out of his side when they need it the most like the impressive 3-0 success over Mansfield back in November. 

But five draws, four defeats and just one win since the turn of the year has them nervously looking over their shoulders. With Gillingham coming into form and Crawley holding games in hand, Weaver’s side are in need of results to make sure that their stay in the league continues for another season. 

Last Time Out

Harrogate were comfortably beaten 3-0 at Swindon on Saturday while the Cobblers were seeing off Colchester 1-0.

One To Watch

Luke Armstrong is still the man that Harrogate rely on for goals and, on his day, is a match for any League Two defence. With ten goals to his name so far this season, the 26-year-old could be the difference between relegation and survival for his team.

Team News

Harrogate will be without goalkeeper Pete Jameson after he dislocated and ruptured a capsule in his thumb joint recently. Kayne Ramsey is out for the season after suffering from serious facial injuries during a match at Carlisle earlier this month. 
 
The Cobblers could welcome back goalkeeper Lee Burge, who returned to the bench on Saturday, but his involvement will depend on whether Jon Brady sees fit to replace Tom King, who has been excellent as his backup recently. Tyler Magloire hobbled off at Colchester and is unlikely to be in a position to play on Tuesday night while Shaun McWilliams will also be checked on after he was replace at half-time. Akin Odimayo, Ryan Haynes, Ben Fox, Danny Hylton, Kieron Bowie and Josh Harrop were already missing and none of them are expected back just yet.

Line-Up Prediction

Match Officials

Thomas Parsons is in the middle on Tuesday night. Parsons last took charge of the Cobblers in our first away game of this season up at Grimsby. He’s shown 94 yellow cards and 4 reds in 20 games so far this season. Simon Clayton and Conor Brown are running the lines and Martin Woods is fourth official.

Prediction

Simon Weaver stuck with the same side on Saturday after a run of decent performances and draws but they seemed to tire during the defeat at Swindon so I’m expecting him to freshen it up a bit. Even so, we should be going up there and laying down another marker and I’m going for a 2-1 Cobblers win.

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