Who are ya?
Northampton are back in League Two after two seasons in the third tier ended in relegation at the end of last season.
In Charge
Former Tottenham defender Dean Austin took over as permanent boss in April on a two-year contract after an impressive spell as caretaker boss.
Behind the scenes
Club owner Kelvin Thomas put the Cobblers up for sale in May. A council-funded development at Sixfields has stalled but Thomas believes the club is in good shape financially and able to attract new investment.
Ins ans Outs
Former Peterborough striker Junior Morias is Northampton’s latest signing, having joined last week after scoring 11 goals in 51 games for Posh.
Austin has also recruited Doncaster striker Andy Williams and former Wolves defender Hakeem Odoffin while goalkeeper Richard O’Donnell has joined Bradford City and defender Joe Bunney has moved to Blackpool on a season-long loan.
Pre-season
Northampton have been in a camp in Spain this week having won three friendlies against non-league opposition last week, 1-0 at Brackley Town, 4-0 at St Albans and 2-0 at Sileby Rangers.
Previous meetings
The sides first met in the 2011-12 promotion-winning campaign when Reds did the double over the Cobblers. Matt Tubb’s goal sealed a 1-0 win at Sixfields in a live Sky TV game before sealing a 3-1 victory at the Broadfield Stadium in the penultimate home game of the season.
In the 2015-16 campaign under Mark Yates Northampton won both matches on their way to promotion. Simon Walton was our scorer in a 2-1 home loss and Gwion Edwards got our goal when we went down 3-1 at Sixfields in April 2016 in what turned out to be Yates’ final away game in charge.
The sides had met for the first time in November 1991 when Reds beat League opposition for the first time 4-2 in the first round of the FA Cup.
How they bet
Northampton are fifth favourites for promotion at 10/1.
