Northampton Town are looking to get their pursuit of a spot in the playoff in their first season back in League One on track after a drop down into 11th in 2024 as the Cobblers play hosts to Charlton Athletic this Saturday afternoon.
The 11th-placed side have managed to up their form in the past few weeks after struggling throughout January. However, back in January, the club did defeat Charlton Athletic with a 3-2 win at The Valley that saw Sam Hoskins get yet another goal alongside a finish from Tyreece Simpson.
However, the headlines were stolen by Louis George Appere with a finish in the final few kicks of the game to snatch all three points in a 3-2 win. Aaron Joseph McGowan scored an own goal for Northampton, with the other finish for Charlton coming from Tennai Watson.
Since that win towards the end of that month, Northampton have gone on to lose three times. This started with a shocking 2-0 defeat at home to Shrewsbury Town before a 4-1 battering from Portsmouth. A draw with Bolton Wanderers came midway through February before another high-scoring loss on the road at the hands of Leyton Orient, where Simpson, Kieron Bowie and Marc Leonard netted in a 4-3 defeat - after beating Charlton in the 97th minute, Orient did the same to them that day.
A victory over Bristol Rovers would follow before a commendable 2-2 draw away to the promotion hopefuls Oxford United, but a return to the win column came last time out for the Cobblers by defeating Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium - Leonard and Mitch Pinnock bagged goals that day.
As for Charlton, things haven't exactly got better for them since the loss to Northampton in the reverse fixture, despite them racking up a sensational 2-1 win away to second-placed Derby County at Pride Park on Tuesday. The London side would lose to Derby at home a week on from the last meeting with Northampton, as they also drew with Blackpool a handful of days later before a loss away to Reading. Consecutive draws with Lincoln City, Bolton Wanderers and Portsmouth would come in before the win at Derby.