Two teams at opposite ends of the League Two table will meet on Friday when 22nd-placed Oldham Athletic will welcome Northampton Town, who are fighting for promotion.

The hosts will be looking to get back to winning ways after a defeat at the weekend; meanwhile, the visitors have gone two matches in a row without three points heading into this one.

Match preview

Oldham Athletic were defeated on Saturday in a frantic five-goal thriller against Port Vale, and despite coming back from behind twice, they ultimately fell short 3-2.

This ended a two-match winning streak for John Sheridan's men, who had improved the defensive side of their game by keeping consecutive clean sheets in that period.

With the Latics currently 22nd in the league table, there is pressure on the team to deliver results in order to sustain their place in the division for next season.

Because Stevenage have a game in hand, Oldham are currently relying on others to help them out as only goal difference is keeping them out of the relegation zone.

The Latics also have the second-worst home record in League Two this season, having won just five of their 20 matches to this point.

That is something that Northampton Town will be hoping to exploit on Friday as they continue to push for promotion out of the division.

Jon Brady's squad are only five points adrift of the automatic positions as they sit fifth in the table, but a defeat could also see them slip out of the playoff places entirely.

That is how close things are at the top right now, with Salford City and Tranmere Rovers eagerly awaiting a team to make a mistake.

Northampton have put themselves under pressure after failing to defeat both Mansfield Town and Bradford City in their two most recent outings, and they did not score in either of those games.

The Cobblers should be confident that they can get back to winning ways on Saturday as they defeated Oldham 2-1 earlier this season, even though they were held to a goalless draw by the Bantams on Saturday.

Team News

After getting on the scoresheet against Port Vale at the weekend KD Davis will be hoping to retain his place in the Oldham team on Friday.

Jamie Hopcutt was used as a substitute in that match despite being dropped from the starting XI, and he will likely be an option once again.

The visitors are currently without Paul Lewis due to suspension, but after making his first start of the season Scott Pollock will be hoping to remain in the team this weekend.

Ali Koiki was able to appear from the bench against Bradford after his hamstring injury, while Shaun McWilliams is also an option for the Cobblers following his knee issue.

Oldham Athletic possible starting lineup:
Rogers; Clarke, Sutton, Piergianni, Hart; Whelan, Missilou; Adams, Davis, Hope; Luamba

Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Roberts; Koiki, Guthrie, Horsfall, McGowan; Sowerby, Hoskins, Pollock, Pinnock, Eppiah; Appere

We say: Oldham Athletic 1-2 Northampton Town

Both teams are desperately fighting for points at the moment for different reasons, but it should set up a close encounter this Friday.

However, the quality of Northampton Town should be enough to see them through in this particular game, even though they have struggled in their most recent matches.

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