Preview: Northampton Town vs. Derby County

Sports Mole previews Saturday’s League One clash between Northampton Town and Derby County, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Derby County will continue their promotion push when they travel to Sixfields for Saturday’s clash with Northampton Town.

The Rams occupy second spot in the League One table, while the Cobblers will head into the weekend in 14th position.

Match preview
© Reuters

After finishing February with a three-game unbeaten run, Northampton have failed to replicate that sort of form this month, taking just two points from their last five matches.

Jon Brady’s side played out draws with Charlton Athletic and Cambridge United on either side of a heavy loss to Peterborough United, before they fell to back-to-back defeats against Blackpool and Wycombe Wanderers.

Despite experiencing a poor run of results, the Cobblers can still be pleased with the fact they are sitting in a comfortable midtable position in their first season back in the third tier since the 2020-21 campaign.

While they may be set to extend their stay in League One into a second straight season, they will still be keen to spark an upturn in fortunes and challenge for a top-half finish in their final seven matches.

Having failed to score more than one goal in their last five games, Northampton will need to offer an improvement in the final third if they are to trouble a Derby side that boasts the third-best defensive record in the division.

Derby have recovered from consecutive defeats at the end of February to put together a four-game winning run, which began with successive 3-0 victories over Port Vale and Bristol Rovers.

They went on to edge out Reading via a 2-1 scoreline, before they recorded another narrow victory in last Saturday’s crucial meeting with promotion rivals Bolton Wanderers.

Kane Wilson’s 78th-minute effort proved enough to secure a precious 1-0 win and move his side four points clear of third-placed Bolton.

With Derby one of just six teams in League One action this weekend, they know that a fifth consecutive victory would extend the gap to Bolton to seven points and move them to within two points of leaders Portsmouth.

Paul Warne’s charges will certainly fancy their chances of claiming the spoils after they cruised to a 4-0 win over Northampton when the two sides last met in October’s reverse fixture.

Northampton Town League One form:

Derby County League One form:

Northampton left-back Patrick Brough recently joined an injury list which includes Lee Burge, Jordan Willis, Akin Odimayo and Ali Koiki.

Tony Springett and Kieron Bowie are not expected to be involved after being called up by the Ireland Under-21s and the Scotland Under-21s respectively.

Sam Hoskins missed the defeat to Wycombe with illness, but the 31-year-old should be ready to take his place in Saturday’s matchday squad.

Derby forward Dwight Gayle is set to miss out after being forced off in the first half against Bolton with a hamstring issue.

James Collins is closing in on a return to fitness, but Saturday’s fixture will come too soon for Derby’s top scorer.

The Rams are also expected to be without the services of Josh Vickers, Jake Rooney, Ryan Nyambe and Tyreece John-Jules, while Tyrese Fornah is a doubt.

In more positive news, Conor Washington should be fit to take his place in the squad following a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Moulden; Sherring, Moore, Guthrie, Monthe; McWilliams, Sowerby; Pinnock, Leonard, Hoskins; Simpson

Derby County possible starting lineup:
Wildsmith; Nelson, Cashin, Forsyth; Ward, Hourihane, Adams, Sibley; Barkuizen; Mendez-Laing, Waghorn

We say: Northampton Town 1-3 Derby County
Derby travel to Sixfields off the back of a fine run of form, and we think the promotion-chasing side will prove too strong for a Northampton team that will be low confidence following a poor spell of results.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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