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Form guide ahead of Saturday's game
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Past meetings with Northampton
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View from the Cobblers' camp
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Past meetings and latest team news
SCENE SETTER
Two of the form sides in League 2 meet at the PTS Academy Stadium on Saturday when Reds travel to Northampton Town. The Cobblers are currently third in the form table and Reds sixth and the teams stand 10th and 7th in the standings themselves.
THE FORM GUIDE
Reds have only lost once in league and cup since the opening day of the season and extended their unbeaten run to six games on Tuesday when goals from Reece Grego-Cox and Ollie Palmer earned us a 2-2 draw at home to Plymouth.
Northampton have won four of their last six League games with three of those victories coming over early pacesetters Swindon as well as Plymouth and Newport County. They won 1-0 at Stevenage on Tuesday although they did lose at home to Walsall and Macclesfield in the early weeks of the campaign.
PAST MEETINGS
Having spent a majority of our Football League era either a league above or below Northampton, we have met Saturday's opponents just six times in recent years.
We also met in 1991, in what was at the time the Reds’ best ever run in the FA Cup when we beat the Cobblers – then of the old third division – 4-2 at the old Town Mead ground in the first round. We went on to lose 5-0 in third round to Brighton.
Our first meeting since 1991 came in a televised fixture in 2011, as the Reds made their first ever trip to Sixfields in our debut Football League season. Matt Tubbs (pictured celebrating with Kyle McFadzean) scored the only goal live on Sky Sports, as the Reds recorded a 1-0 win.
Crawley ran riot in the return fixture at the Broadfield as they went 3-0 up before half-time. Scott Neilson opened the scoring before Billy Clarke doubled the score after only 22 minutes. It was three shortly before the break when Neal Kitson turned the ball into his own net. Brett Williams netted a consolation for the visitors but the Reds held on for a deserved 3-1 win.
There was a further three years until we next met, in a season that saw Northampton crowned League Two champions. It was November 2015 when John Joe O’Toole and Joel Byrom put the Cobblers 2-0 up inside 20 minutes at the Broadfield Stadium. Brendan Moloney was sent off in the second half and Simon Walton slotted home the subsequent penalty, but it wasn’t enough for the Reds who couldn’t get back into the game and lost it 2-1.
The return leg at Sixfields was a similar story as the hosts raced into a 2-0 lead, with goals from Ricky Holmes and O’Toole once again. Gwion Edwards scored late on for the Reds but all hopes of a comeback were dashed when on-loan defender Andy Bond was sent off minutes later. We went down 2-1 in what was Mark Yates’ final away game in charge of the club.
Our home game with the Cobblers in December was a lively affair. Northampton scored the only goal of the game from a disputed penalty in the second half before Ollie Palmer was sent off shortly afterwards and the visitors saw the game out for a 1-0 victory. When the teams reconvened at Sixfields in February a drab 0-0 was the outcome.
TEAM NEWS
Joe McNerney and Ashley Nadesan, who will be out for 2-3 weeks with an ankle injury sustained two weeks ago against Portsmouth, miss out but Tom Dallison is close to a return after missing the last two games with an ankle problem.
VIEW FROM THE OPPOSITION
Northampton boss Keith Curle: “Crawley have adapted very well from last season to this season, I think they have more pace about them, more dynamic and they are more of a goal threat.
“They are a team that has got good energy, they like to play on the front foot and they can cause you problems when they get that flow into their play in the final third. They have a vastly improved squad and a manager who has a real understanding of this division."
THE MATCH OFFICIALS
His previous Reds appointment was the 1-0 defeat at Grimsby Town in November.
In 2017-18 he was in charge of our 1-1 draw at Stevenage. In the 2016-17 campaign he took charge of the 1-1 draw against Colchester and in February 2016 the 4-1 loss at Accrington Stanley.
He was also the referee for the 1-0 win over Ipswich in the first round of the Capital One Cup in August 2014, a 2-1 win at Rotherham (November 2011), 2-1 win at Barnet (April 2012) and 1-1 draw at Notts County (October 2012).
He has shown 22 yellow and two red cards in seven matches so far this season.
TICKETS
Advance ticket sales close at 3pm today from the Box Office. Prices and information here
HOW THEY BET*
Crawley win: 23/10
Draw: 23/10
Plymouth win: 11/10
*Odds correct with EFL partners Sky Bet at time of writing. Please gamble responsibly.
COVERAGE
There will be live commentary from BBC Sussex & Surrey Sport's Gary Smith and Ken Blackmore from 2.55pm on iFollow.
You can subscribe here.
There will also be coverage across our social media channels throughout the game. @crawleytown on Twitter, Crawley Town FC on Facebook and officialcrawleytownfc on Instagram followed by post-match report and reaction.
COME ON YOU REDS!
