Relegation-threatened Crawley Town welcome Northampton Town to Broadfield Stadium for their penultimate League One fixture of the 2024-25 season on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds are seeking revenge against the Cobblers after they suffered a 3-0 defeat in the reverse fixture at Sixfields Stadium six months ago.
Match preview
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After beginning the month of April with three successive defeats, conceding 10 goals in the process, Crawley have boosted their survival hopes by collecting four points across their last two fixtures against champions Birmingham City and Exeter City.
The Reds admirably held Birmingham to a goalless draw on the road before claiming a crucial 3-1 home victory over Exeter last weekend, with goals from Rushian Hepburn-Murphy (2) and Panutche Camara sealing their 10th league win of the season.
Scott Lindsey has won three of his seven games in charge since returning to Crawley at the end of March and sees his side sitting 22nd in the League One standings, three points adrift of safety with 20th-placed Burton Albion still boasting a game in hand.
Crawley can ill-afford to drop any more points if they wish to avoid slipping back down into League Two, but if they fail to beat Northampton this weekend, they could be relegated if Burton come out on top against fellow relegation-threatened side Cambridge United.
The Reds have accumulated 60% of their third-tier points on home soil this term (24), but success on Saturday is not a given as they have lost each of their last three meetings with Northampton since a slender 1-0 away win in League Two in January 2022.
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Northampton have secured their League One status for the second year running after they cruised to a 4-1 home win over basement club Shrewsbury Town last weekend - their 12th league win of the season and first at home since the end of February.
Dara Costelloe (2), Aaron McGowan and Cameron McGeehan were all on the scoresheet for the Cobblers, who have now reached the 50-point mark and sit 18th in the table, seven points clear of the bottom four with two games remaining.
Kevin Nolan has won seven, drawn eight and lost eight of his 23 matches in charge of Northampton since taking the reins in December and the 42-year-old is hoping to finish the season strongly by steering his side to as high as 13th in the table, where they could potentially finish with wins over Crawley and Wigan Athletic.
Northampton are bidding to win back-to-back matches for the first time in almost three months and they will fancy their chances of securing a positive result this weekend, as they have lost only two of their last 10 away matches (W4 D4), scoring in each of their last seven in the process.
The Cobblers have also performed well in recent visits to Crawley, as they have picked up 10 points across their last five away meetings with the Reds, most recently winning 3-2 in League Two in August 2022.
Team News
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Crawley's Joe Wollacott remains sidelined through injury, so Toby Steward is set to continue between the sticks - the Reds have used eight different goalkeepers this season.
Joy Mukena and Ryan Sandford are also expected to miss out for the hosts, but Armando Quitirna managed to shake off a hamstring issue to feature as a substitute last time out and he is in contention to play again in some capacity this weekend.
Kamari Doyle and Bradley Ibrahim will both be pushing for a recall after being left out of the starting lineup against Exeter, but Lindsey may decide to stick with Max Anderson in midfield and Gavan Holohan up front alongside Hepburn-Murphy, who has scored a team-high nine goals this term.
As for Northampton, Tom Eaves, Callum Morton, Jack Sowerby and Jon Guthrie remain sidelined through injury, while Sam Hoskins, Luke Mbete and TJ Eyoma will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Whether Nolan opts to make multiple changes remains to be seen, but the likes of Tariqe Fosu, Will Hondermarck, Jack Baldwin and Max Dyche - son of Sean Dyche - will all be hoping to force their way into the first XI. Patrick Brough is also in contention to feature as he made a welcome return to the matchday squad last weekend after more than six months out with a broken leg.
In-form Costelloe has scored four goals in as many games and is set to retain his place in the final third along with top scorer McGeehan, who scored his 10th goal of the season last weekend.
Crawley Town possible starting lineup:
Steward; Radcliffe, Conroy, Barker; Roles, Camara, Fraser, Anderson, Kelly; Hepburn-Murphy, Holohan
Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Burge; Odimayo, Magloire, Guinness-Walker; McGowan, Taylor, Perry, Pinnock; McGeehan, Fosu; Costelloe
We say: Crawley Town 2-1 Northampton Town
If Crawley can produce another spirited performance as they did against Exeter, then they have every chance of securing maximum points against a Northampton side merely playing for pride.
The visitors will still back themselves to claim a positive result this weekend, but we feel that the hosts will get the job done to keep their survival hopes alive for a little while longer.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
