Salford City v Northampton Town Preview – The Cobblers are back on the road as we head north to the Peninsula Stadium.
Match Preview
The Cobblers are back on the road this weekend for the ninth examination of the season. Salford is the destination as as Jon Brady so elequently put it this week, “They might have the biggest budget but it doesn’t make them the best team.”
That’s certainly been the case so far for The Ammies as they’ve struggled to get going in League Two this season. Gary Bowyer may start to come under more scrutiny if they continue to fail to live up to heady expectations.
For the Cobblers, it’s one that we should be going and attacking with Town still hanging on just below the top three. As usual, we’ll likely take a healthy number of fans north as we look for our fifth win of the league season.
The Opposition
Bowyer was appointed on a temporary basis last season and managed six wins from eleven as Salford just missed out on the playoffs. It was enough to earn the ex Blackburn, Blackpool and Bradford boss the position on a full time basis over the summer.
The expected influx of impressive talent took place over the summer with the likes of Conor McAleny, Josh Morris and Matty Lund jumping aboard for a hopeful tilt at promotion.
It’s not turned out that way so far, though, with City stumbling to four defeats in eight games. As with the Cobblers, goals have been hard to come back so expect a low scoring afternoon!
There’s potential for us to say hello to our old mucker Jordan “Turn Dog” Turnbull if he makes it back into the starting eleven and Ian Henderson will be hoping to return from injury to get his obligatory goal against the Cobblers.
Last time out
The Cobblers drew 1-1 at home with Swindon on an entertaining afternoon while Salford were beaten 2-0 at Tranmere Rovers. City had to play 70 minutes with ten men after Ibou Touray was sent off early on.
One to watch
Josh Morris made his name with Scunthorpe United and his wand of a left foot can win games on its own. Whether it’s a set piece delivery or a long range effort, Morris still has the ability to pull something out of the bag.
Team News
Salford will be hoping to welcome back Ian Henderson from injury while ex Cobbler Turnbull could come in for the suspended Touray, setting up a potential meeting with his mate Sam Hoskins on that flank. Conor McAleny is out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury.
The Cobblers are still definitely without Sid Nelson and Joseph Mills who are out long term. Jon Brady reported no new injury concerns this week apart from those two.
Last meeting
Salford City 1-2 Northampton Town (11/01/20)
In our first ever visit to the Peninsula Stadium, Sam Hoskins blasted home to equalise Jack Baldwin’s early goal before Andy Williams completed the turn around in the second half.
Line-up Prediction
Match Officials
This weekend sees Anthony Backhouse take charge of proceedings. His last Cobblers game was the 2-1 defeat at Lincoln back in January.
Score Predictions
Charles: Salford 0-2 Cobblers
Danny: Salford 1-1 Cobblers
Neil: Salford 4-4 Cobblers
Jefe: Salford 0-5 Cobblers
Charles is the founder and main presenter of the award-winning It’s All Cobblers To Me podcast.
He began the podcast after going self-employed in 2018 as a podcast producer and voiceover artist. The original thought being that It’s All Cobblers To Me would be a place to try out new things – like a test podcast of sorts.
As well as being Cobblers mad, Charles is also a ultramarathon runner and has a blog about that that he tries to keep up to date as often as he can.
