Two League One mid-table sides come together on Saturday when Northampton Town travel to Adams Park to face Wycombe Wanderers.
The hosts sit 14th in the table heading into this game, while the visitors are three points better off and reside in 12th spot.
Match preview
© Reuters
This season has been full of ups and downs for Wycombe up until this point, finding themselves in the playoff spots early on in the season thanks to a good start by Matt Bloomfield's side, only for a spell of one league victory in 17 to see them drop into the lower half of the table.
The Blues have had an upturn in form since then though, winning five of their last nine league matches which has helped them move away from any ongoing relegation battles and into the middle of the table.
With Wycombe now 13 points above the bottom four and 14 points away from Stevenage in the final playoff spot, Bloomfield's side appear destined for a fourth straight season in League One following their relegation from the Championship back in 2020-21.
However, there are still chances for Wycombe to move up the table, with just three points separating them in 14th and Bristol Rovers in 11th place. A win against Northampton, who are one of the sides within reach of the Blues, would see them overtake their opponents and potentially others depending on results elsewhere.
Northampton come into this game in rather poor form as they have recorded just two victories in their last 11 games in the league, resulting in them dropping from a season-high ninth spot to now being in 12th place and out of the running for any potential promotion push.
Despite these recent shortcomings, this season has still been a major success for Jon Brady's side with this being their first time back in League One since 2020-21 after they were promoted from League Two in third place last campaign.
Brady will now be hoping his side can turn their form around and put together a run of results that will not only stop them from sliding any further down the table but also give them a solid foundation to build from for next season.
Goals have been hard to come by for Northampton in recent games, scoring just three in their last four outings, and they will be relying on top scorer Sam Hoskins to get back amongst the goals, with the attacker not getting on the scoresheet since a 3-2 victory over Charlton in January.
Team News
Wycombe go into this game with two injury concerns after Josh Scowen was replaced by Gideon Kodua late in the 1-0 win over Wigan Athletic in the previous outing. Brandon Hanlen is also still sidelined, with the forward still yet to make an appearance since the turn of the year.
Bloomfield will be without midfielder David Wheeler, who is set to serve the third and final game of his suspension after he picked up a red card against Barnsley earlier this month.
Northampton's Liam Moore was taken off just after the hour mark in their 1-0 defeat to Blackpool earlier this week and is a doubt for the upcoming match leaving Emmanuel Monthe likely to step into the defence.
Louie Moulden is expected to continue his spell in goal following first-choice goalkeeper Lee Burge's injury against Bolton Wanderers in February, making this his ninth successive start in net.
Wycombe Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Ravizzoli; Grimmer, Lonwijk, Tafazolli, Leahy; Kodua, Potts, Butcher; Campbell, Lubala, Taylor
Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Moulden; Monthe, Guthrie, Sherring; Lintott, Leonard, Sowerby, McWilliams, Brough; Bowie, Hoskins
We say: Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Northampton Town
Wycombe enter into this game in the superior form of the two sides, while they have also taken victory in all of the last five meetings.
However, Northampton have shown throughout the course of this season that they are not an easy team to face and we believe this one will end as a stalemate.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
