Knowing their relegation from League One could be confirmed by a defeat or results elsewhere, Carlisle United will travel to Sixfields to take on Northampton Town on Saturday.
Both sides won promotion to the third tier last term, with the hosts currently sat 11th and their visitors rooted to the foot of the division with five games left to play.
Match preview
Northampton Town return to Sixfields at the weekend with the aim of strengthening their standing in League One's top half, having enjoyed an impressive campaign on their return to England's third tier.
After their third-placed finish in League Two last season, Jon Brady's side currently occupy 11th spot having earned 56 points from their 42 matches thus far, winning 16 of those along the way.
The Cobblers would fall well behind the playoff picture in March, enduring a five-match winless streak which produced just two points and culminated in back-to-back losses to Blackpool and Wycombe Wanderers, but they have since recorded two of those wins in the last three attempts, firstly bouncing back at home to second-placed Derby County in an impressive 1-0 win as Sam Hoskins netted the only goal in the 23rd minute.
Then following a narrow loss by the same scoreline away at Reading last Friday, Brady's men most recently hosted relegation-threatened Port Vale on Monday, and they would again return to winning ways, securing a 2-0 triumph at Sixfields as Mitch Pinnock opened the scoring in the 34th minute and Shaun McWilliams added a second in the dying embers.
With their sights set on sealing a top-half finish with a five-point lead over 13th-placed Wycombe Wanderers and the chance to move back into the top 10 and leapfrog Leyton Orient, Northampton Town will set out to make it back-to-back wins this week and three straight home triumphs to further improve their standing in the run-in.
They meet a Carlisle United side who also won promotion from the fourth tier last time around but will aim to stay alive with a win at the weekend, having experienced a much tougher return to League One than their hosts.
Under the management of Paul Simpson, the Cumbrians find themselves rooted to the foot of the division, having managed just 27 points from their 41 games thus far, suffering 26 defeats and conceding a league-high tally of 73 goals along the way.
Before collecting four of those points in the last three attempts, Simpson's men endured a particularly dismal run between early January and mid-March, suffering 12 defeats and winning once in a 13-match span, before ending a losing run with a creditable 2-2 draw at home to Stevenage last month.
They built on that with a sixth league win of the campaign on Friday, defying the odds to prevail in a 3-1 victory away at promotion-chasing Peterborough United as Jon Mellish netted a hat-trick, but the Cumbrians failed to extend their improvement any further on Monday.
Sixth-placed Lincoln City visited Brunton Park on Monday and left with all three points, despite Sam Lavelle pulling the score back to 2-1 with 10 minutes to go, as Teddy Bishop put the game out of sight in the 93rd minute.
While their recent results have just about kept Carlisle United alive in League One, they do now sit 13 points adrift of safety, with just 15 left to fight for, and they head into the weekend knowing they require a victory and for Burton Albion to fail to do so in order to keep their slender hopes of remaining competitive alive heading into the final four games.
Team News
Jon Brady may opt to field an unchanged Northampton Town starting XI on Saturday from their win over Port Vale last time out, although Shaun McWilliams does have a claim to return to the midfield from the outset after scoring their second off the bench.
Louis Appere should again lead the line with support from Kieron Bowie and star man Sam Hoskins, who boasts 15 League One goals so far this term, while Mitch Pinnock will set out to cause further problems from the left-hand side.
McWilliams will hope to to rejoin Marc Leonard in the engine room from the outset, while Liam Moore, Jon Guthrie and Sam Sherring should line up in an unaltered back three if the former is deemed fit to feature.
Paul Simpson may opt to make several changes to his Carlisle United starting XI on Saturday, with competition in attack as Sean Maguire and Rotherham United loanees Josh Emmanuel and Georgie Kelly fighting to come in after Luke Armstrong led the line alongside Daniel Butterworth on Monday.
It is winger Jordan Gibson who leads their scoring charts with seven League One goals so far this term, and he will continue on the right-hand side while Jon Mellish, who scored a hat-trick in their 3-1 win away at Peterborough, should again partner Harrison Neal in the engine room.
At the back in their 4-4-2 shape, Sam Lavelle is a mainstay and should again be partnered by Ben Barclay in front of stopper Harry Lewis.
Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Burge; Moore, Guthrie, Sherring; McGowan, McWilliams, Leonard, Pinnock; Bowie, Appere, Hoskins
Carlisle United possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Ellis, Lavelle, Barclay, Armer; Gibson, Neal, Mellish, Robinson; Armstrong, Kelly
We say: Northampton Town 2-0 Carlisle United
Devoid of any confidence and all but condemned to the drop having fallen short of the required standard for survival for the entirety of the campaign thus far, we cannot envisage Carlisle prevailing at Sixfields at the weekend and instead anticipate a home victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
