Northampton Town v Leeds Utd Preview

Preview Track:

Just as I was settling down to do the preview I got a message from our illustrious club informing me that the away ticket applications, which I made for the second time this morning, had been lost in cyber space again.  Now I am a calm, placid, reasonable person but this is getting beyond a joke..........how difficult can it be to run a ticket application system........apparently very if you have the contract for LUFC's ticketing services!

Tomorrows match is bit like a Groundhog Day as we return to Sixfields to play the same Cobblers team we leathered in the cup last week, sorry.  After putting 4 past Hartlepool at the weekend we will be going into the match with confidence high and certainly there won't be many Cobblers fans or players relishing another tangle with the Mighty Whites after such a short interval.  The table is very tight at the top with 6 or 7 teams jockeying for position in the promotion places and we will do well to put together a consistent unbeaten run up to Xmas just to put a bit of daylight between us and the rest..........that's the theory anyhow.  One thing is for sure and that is the atmosphere should be cranked up a level from last week as we have sold all our allocation and will probably outnumber the home fans.  This will mean that there will be two separate stands full of whites fans so plenty of opportunity to trade good natured insults  between the two.

We are picking up a couple of the Wakey Warriors on the way tomorrow to keep us company on the journey and with the weather turning very wintry hopefully it holds long enough to complete the game and avoid a third trip back down the M1.

On the selection front I believe Christie is available to add strength to the already impressive forward options whilst Prutton certainly did enough on Saturday to keep his place alongside Delph and Dougie.  I'm not sure Macca will stick with Robbo as he looked a bit leggy towards the end on Saturday and amusingly couldn't make it  across the pitch to take a third consecutive corner in the last 10 mins.  I would start with Snoddy and bring on the Pukka Pieman for the last 20 minutes. Prediction wise I am going for a solid 4:1 win, just can't seem to type nil for our defence, as Northampton are bound to get at least one corner.

So in league 1 we seem to be entering a period that a certain manager calls "squeaky bum time" as every team begins to look over their shoulders at their rivals results and the leadership chops and changes each week.............time for stout hearts and steady nerves not to mention no fingernails and high blood pressure for the faithful fans as we batten down the hatches until we can strengthen the back four in the January sales!

MOT