Aiming to ramp up the pressure on the top two in the League One table, Wrexham will travel to Sixfields Stadium to take on Northampton Town on Saturday.
The visitors moved within four points of second spot with a return to winning ways last time out, while their hosts have climbed to 17th spot with important back-to-back victories.
Match preview
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Northampton Town return to Sixfields Stadium on Saturday aiming to continue their improvement and climb further away from the League One relegation zone.
Kevin Nolan arrived in December following Jon Brady's departure, with the Cobblers sat on just 21 points from 21 games, and he was unable to inspire an instant improvement, overseeing one win, three draws and three defeats between Boxing Day and the end of January.
Those results left the Cobblers in the drop zone on just 27 points from 28 games, but they have since bounced back in style and head into the weekend on the back of consecutive league wins for the first time this term, firstly standing strong to beat promotion-chasing Huddersfield Town 3-2 having gone 3-0 up through Sam Hoskins, Tom Eaves and Liam Shaw.
A trip to Mansfield Town then followed on Friday, and Nolan's men again came away with all three points as Cameron McGeehan netted the only goal of the game before the hour mark.
Thanks to their quick turnaround, Northampton Town have climbed to 17th spot in England's third tier with a six-point lead over the bottom four, and they will now aim to extend that further by making it three consecutive League One victories for the first time since November 2023.
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They face a tough test, though, as the visitors arrive at Sixfields Stadium aiming to move back within touching distance of the automatic promotion spots.
In their first third-tier campaign since 2005, after winning back-to-back promotions under the management of Phil Parkinson, Wrexham have enjoyed another strong campaign thus far, remaining in the top-two race throughout having amassed 55 points from their 29 games.
They are yet to excel away from home, though, with a league-high tally of 39 of those points coming at the Racecourse Ground and only 16 coming from their 13 games on the road, albeit having bounced back to winning ways away from home last time out.
Having lost ground in the automatic promotion race following defeats to Shrewsbury Town and Stevenage either side of a draw with Birmingham City, the Red Dragons visited strugglers Crawley Town at the beginning of February and returned to Wales with all three points for just the fourth time this term, as Elliot Lee sealed a 2-1 victory with a 95th-minute winner after Matty James's early opener was cancelled out in injury time.
Having since advanced to the EFL Trophy semi-finals with wins over Port Vale and Bolton Wanderers, most recently beating the latter 1-0 in midweek thanks to Andy Cannon's goal, Wrexham return to League One action with momentum and will aim to narrow their four-point gap to second-placed Wycombe Wanderers with a second straight away league win.
Team News
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Kevin Nolan should field an unchanged Northampton Town starting XI from last week's win over Mansfield Town, with defenders TJ Eyoma and Aaron McGowan having both missed that game due to injuries they picked up in the 3-2 victory over Huddersfield.
In their absence, Akinwale Odimayo and Max Dyche joined Jordan Willis in a back three and will continue after last week's clean sheet, while Terry Taylor and Liam Shaw are bound to line up in the engine room again.
Tom Eaves will lead the line with support from Tariqe Fosu and Cameron McGeehan, who leads the Cobblers' scoring charts with eight goals this term, while Mitch Pinnock and Sam Hoskins will offer plenty more attacking support from wing back roles, with the latter having notched up 51 goals in the previous three seasons for Northampton.
Wrexham deployed a rotated starting XI for their recent EFL Trophy victory over Bolton Wanderers and should make plenty of changes for Saturday's trip, with January signings Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez like to return and partner up in attack.
Elliot Lee could feature in the midfield, having sustained no severe injuries in a road traffic accident after their midweek cup win, and he will hope to join Oliver Rathbone and George Dobson.
Despite competition from Ryan Longman, who arrived from Hull City last month, James McClean and Ryan Barnett should continue in wing-back roles, while Max Cleworth is bound to return to the defence from the start having only featured off the bench in the EFL Trophy tie last time out.
Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Tzanev; Odimayo, Willis, Dyche; Hoskins, Taylor, Shaw, Pinnock; McGeehan, Eaves, Fosu
Wrexham possible starting lineup:
Okonowo; Cleworth, O'Connell, Scarr; Barnett, Rathbone, Lee, Dobson, McClean; Rodriguez, Smith
We say: Northampton Town 2-2 Wrexham
With renewed confidence having ended a tough run with a pair of impressive victories, Northampton Town should certainly cause problems for a Wrexham side who are weaker on the road than they are on home turf.
That new momentum could see Nolan's men take another creditable point in what may be an eventful contest at Sixfields.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
