Relegation-threatened Northampton Town host promotion-chasing Portsmouth at the PTS Academy Stadium in League One on Saturday afternoon, kick-off is at 15:00. 

Northampton Town are one of the bottom seven sides in League One which are separated by just five points. The Cobblers sit 22nd in the table and have a point between them and safety.

They are on the up after picking up their first win of 2021 on Tuesday and have this week confirmed that Jon Brady will oversee the fight for survival for the remainder of the season. 

Meanwhile, visitors Portsmouth are sat fifth in the table, seven points off Hull City who currently occupy the final automatic promotion spot. Pompey are in poor form at the moment for a team of their quality with a defeat to Doncaster Rovers and a draw against Gillingham in the last week.

Northampton caretaker boss Jon Brady will certainly see this as a good time to play the blues. 

Team news

Northampton suffered a big injury blow last weekend when Alan Sheehan limped off against Swindon Town. The Irishman will miss Saturday's game and is expected to be on the sidelines for a number of weeks.

The only other injury concern for the Cobblers is also at the back, with Cian Bolger expected to miss out with a hip problem. Northampton will also be without Bryn Morris in the middle of the park as a clause in his loan contract prevents him from facing his parent club. 

As for Pompey, James Bolton and former Cobbler Micheal Jacobs will both undergo fitness tests having returned to training this week. 

Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett will be without Alex Bass and Callum Johnson who both remain on the treatment table and won't feature on Saturday afternoon. 

Predicted lineups

Northampton Town: Mitchell, Kioso, Jones, Horsfall, Mills, McWilliams, Watson, Sowerby, Miller, Edmondson, Marshall.

Portsmouth: MacGillivray; Whatmough, Raggett, Nicolaisen, Mnoga, Naylor, White, Daniels, Harness, Curtis, Harrison.

Ones to watch

There is no doubt that midfielder Ryan Watson is the inform man at the Cobblers. Watson has scored four goals for Northampton this season and they have all come in his last four appearances under caretaker Brady. 

The Englishman scored twice in the Cobblers win over Plymouth Argyle in midweek as well as last weekend against Swindon Town and got one of the three Northampton scored against the MK Dons in late February. 

Watson doesn't have a win against Portsmouth yet in his career, something he will be determined to change on Saturday, especially with the boost three points would give to Northampton's survival hopes. 

As for Pompey, midfielder Ronan Curtis will be determined to hit form again on Saturday afternoon. The midfielder has ten goals and seven assists so far this season but hasn't scored since early February. 

Northampton will be familiar with Curtis, who scored one of the four goals Pompey scored against them in the reverse fixture at Fratton Park in October 2020. 

Previous meetings

Since their first meeting in 1920, the two sides have faced each other 37 times. Pompey have come out on top 20 times with seven draws and ten Northampton wins. 

The last time the sides faced each other was in October when Pompey came out on top by four goals to nil. Portsmouth have won the last four meetings between the two sides and haven't lost to Saturday's opponents since December 2017. 

Where to watch

Northampton Town season ticket holders can watch the game for free on iFollow and non-season ticket holders can watch for £10 here.

Portsmouth fans can also watch the game live for the same price on iFollow
 

Pre-match quotes

Northampton caretaker boss Jon Brady is delighted to have the chance to keep Northampton in League One and told the Northampton website: 

“I’m delighted to have been given the opportunity to try and make a difference,” he said.

“We know what we need to do and we have 66 days and 14 games to keep the club in League One.

“We’ve got nine teams in the top 11 to play, three in the middle and two teams in and around us. The challenge is going to be tough but we are going to roll our sleeves up and give it absolutely everything."

Pompey boss Kenny Jackett knows it'll be a tough game for Pompey on Saturday and told the Portsmouth website:

“We’ve analysed them and they’ve been quite fluid in terms of the systems played and had an excellent result on Tuesday.

“They’ll obviously be looking to back that up, but we have to concentrate on ourselves and make sure get our performance right.”

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