Northampton Town and Swindon Town wrap up the year with a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash in League Two at the Sixfields Stadium on Thursday.
The home side, who are unbeaten in each of their last five league outings, will be looking to strengthen their position in the upper echelons of the table, while the Robins set out to pick up successive away wins for the first time since September.
Match preview
Northampton Town turned in a resilient team performance in their Boxing Day clash against Mansfield Town as they fought back from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw at Field Mill.
English youngster Will Swan came off the bench to hand the Stags an 84th-minute lead, but Sam Hoskins responded almost right after as the former Southampton man found the back of the net four minutes later to force a share of the spoils.
Jon Brady's men are now unbeaten in each of their last nine matches in the league, claiming four wins and five draws since a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Salford City on October 8.
The Cobblers have now picked up 12 wins, seven draws and lost three of their 22 matches to collect 43 points and sit third in the League Two standings, two points off second-placed Stevenage.
Northampton Town's impressive campaign has been owing to their solid display at the attacking end of the pitch, where they boast the division's best record with 37 goals so far.
Swindon Town, on the other hand, were sent crashing down to earth last time out as they suffered a 2-1 loss against Walsall when the sides met at the County Ground.
Ellis Iandolo's 33rd-minute opener was cancelled out on the stroke of half time courtesy of an own goal from Remeao Hutton before Emmanuel Monthe completed the comeback with a dramatic winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Prior to that, the Robins ended a run of five consecutive games without a win across all competitions on December 17 when they saw off Barrow 1-0 thanks to a seventh-minute penalty from former Sheffield United man Louis Reed.
With 35 points from 23 matches, Scott Lindsey's men are currently fifth in the League Two standings, level on points with Mansfield Town and Barrow in the final two playoff places.
Given their recent form away from home, where they have picked up two wins and one draw in their last four league matches, Swindon Town will be backing themselves to quickly bounce back from Monday's defeat as they take on a Northampton Town side who are winless in five of their last six home matches.
Team News
Northampton Town remain without the services of English defender Ali Koiki, who has been out of action since coming off injured against Stevenage on October 22.
Hoskins has been in red-hot form in front of goal and the 29-year-old, who boasts 14 goals and three assists in 17 league matches this season, will certainly be one to keep an eye out for.
Meanwhile, Swindon Town will take to the pitch without Mathieu Baudry, who has missed each of the last three matches after coming off injured against Crawley Town earlier in December.
Scottish defender Tom Clayton has also been out of action since the game against Crawley and the 22-year-old is a major doubt for the trip to the Sixfields Stadium, while Cian Harries suffered a muscle problem back in November.
The goals seem to have dried up for striker Jacob Wakeling, who has failed to find the target in five consecutive matches, but we expect the Englishman, who has 10 goal involvements in the league, to lead the attack once again.
Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Burge; McGowan, Sherring, Guthrie, Odimayo; Fox, Sowerby, McWilliams; Pinnock, Bowie, Hoskins
Swindon Town possible starting lineup:
Brynn; Lavinier, Blake-Tracey, MacDonald, Hutton; Williams, Reed, Darcy; Shade, Iandolo, Wakeling
We say: Northampton Town 2-1 Swindon Town
Northampton Town and Swindon have enjoyed a solid first half of the season and will be looking to close out the year on a high. However, the Cobblers head into the midweek match as the more in-form side and we are backing them to maintain their impressive run by claiming a slender victory in front of their home fans.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
