Tomorrow afternoon sees the second of the successive home games as we host Northampton Town with the Cobblers looking for their first league double of the season, having won the game at Sixfields back in November by two goals to nil.
Looking at the hosts, so far this season they have 9 victories, 15 draws and 10 losses in the league as they sit in 16th place. They have beaten Colchester United, Forest Green Rovers, Macclesfield Town, Oldham Athletic, us, Crawley Town, Tranmere Rovers and Stevenage, they have drawn with Carlisle United, Cambridge United, Tranmere, Notts County, Bury, Swindon Town, Exeter City, Grimsby Town, Stevenage, Yeovil Town, Swindon Town, MK Dons, Morecambe, Lincoln City and Crawley whilst their defeats have come against Lincoln, Morecambe, Cheltenham Town, Port Vale, Mansfield Town, MK Dons, Newport County, Forest Green Rovers, Cambridge and Northampton.
In cup competitions, they lost on penalties to Wycombe Wanderers in the EFL Cup and against Lincoln in the FA Cup, both in Round 1. They did have some success in the EFL Trophy by finishing 2nd in their group that contained Oxford United, Wycombe Wanderers and Fulham’s Under-21 side then knocked out Cambridge on penalties in Round 2 before Bristol Rovers knocked them out in Round 3.
Looking back in the archives, the two teams have met 67 times with Northampton leading the head-to-head with 27 wins to 24 with 16 draws. Crewe’s biggest win came in a 3-0 victory at the Alexandra Stadium in March 1971 while Northampton’s biggest win came at the same ground in November 1986 with a 5-0 win. The last season that the teams played was during our promotion season of 2011/12 which saw both games end 1-1.
Who are the officials for the game?
The officials for this game see Lee Collins as the man in the middle where he is assisted by Richard Wild and Ian Smedley with Paul Graham being the fourth official. During the last 5 seasons the following Crewe games have been refereed by Collins:
- Swindon Town 2-0 Crewe Alexandra (23rd August 2014)
- Swindon Town 4-3 Crewe Alexandra (16th January 2016) – Inman (2), Colclough
- Peterborough United 3-0 Crewe Alexandra (2nd April 2016)
- Cambridge United 2-1 Crewe Alexandra (17th December 2016) – Jones
- Crawley Town 3-0 Crewe Alexandra (24th November 2018)
I asked The Shoe Army for their thoughts going into the game.
How do feel that your season has gone since we last played?
It’s been an odd one, periods of quality and long unbeaten runs followed by runs of poor results and poor football. We’ve pretty much cemented ourselves to 16th place now and will struggle to do better or go down so it’s just about finishing as strong as possible and using that to attract some signings in the summer and give the new manager a full crack at it.
What do you think the team will be for Saturday’s game?
Who knows with Curle!? Loves to tinker, always changing.
After Matt Crooks’ January move to Rotherham, who should he look out for in the away line-up as the star man?
John-Joe O’Toole. Fan favourite and on his day will dominate any midfield.
Any changes on where the Cobblers will finish (you previously said mid-table)?
Lower end of mid table!
Any changes to who you think will be promoted or relegated?
I’ve said Lincoln since pre season. I like Mansfield and Exeter too. Port Vale are in trouble at the other end and I can see them slipping all the way down.
