The English Football League season continues apace on Saturday, with a truncated schedule due to the FA Cup Fourth Round, as Barrow A.F.C. welcome Northampton Town to Holker Street in League Two at 3pm.
Even in late January, Saturday's fixture feels like a pivotal one in the race to win promotion to League One - as the hosts are eighth in the League Two table, and a win on Saturday could take them to fourth, just three points and one place behind their visitors. Third-placed Town, meanwhile, are looking to maintain their push for automatic promotion with three points in the North-West.
Match preview
Pete Wild's Bluebirds are nicely perched outside the playoffs in eighth and are ready to attack them in the coming weeks, with the Cumbria outfit currently being unbeaten in three matches.
Draws have prevented Barrow from gaining further upward momentum recently however, as three stalemates in the last six games have stunted a previously red-hot season - despite a 3-2 success away to Mansfield Town two games ago.
The 2022-23 season had been turning out to be a dream debut season in charge for Wild, who had taken over at the end of last season. The team from Cumbria were top of the table after eight games, following a 1-0 home win against Colchester United.
Barrow maintained their position in the automatic promotion spots until matchday 12, when they were beaten 1-0 away at Tranmere Rovers.
Inconsistent results saw the team interchange places inside the top seven - until they were beaten by Tranmere again, 3-2 on December 29, in the return fixture. A 0-0 draw against Rochdale the following week, saw The Bluebirds fall as low as 11th.
Four points in Barrow's last two games means that they can leapfrog Bradford City, Swindon Town and Salford City if they claim a maximum points haul against the East Midlands side on Saturday afternoon - a win that would put them right in the mix for a top-three finish.
Northampton Town come into Saturday's fixture in a much stronger position than their hosts - the East Midlanders are sat in third place in the table, and are five points ahead of Bradford City in the last playoff place.
Jon Brady's side have been in at least the playoff places for the majority of the campaign - and were as early as the season's third match, a 2-1 win at home to Hartlepool United.
The Cobblers were even top of League Two after a 3-1 home win over Saturday's opponents in September, and have been in third place ever since a 2-1 away win at Swindon Town in October.
Town are nine points adrift of Stevenage in second place, but the team can close that gap to six points whilst simultaneously extending their lead over Carlisle United in fourth place to four points, should they claim the points against Barrow.
Team News
Both Barrow and Northampton Town have respective clean bills of health ahead of their meeting at the weekend - both Pete Wild and Jon Brady are so far able to name unchanged 11s from their last fixtures, on Saturday.
The hosts are able to line up in their favoured 4-2-3-1 formation at the weekend - although there are some selection dilemmas for the manager, as Josh Kay, Elliot Newby and Richie Bennett are all pushing for starts behind central striker Josh Gordon after each of them appeared as substitutes last time out.
Harrison Neal will be hoping to keep his fine form from central midfield going, following a man-of-the-match display in last weekend's 0-0 draw with Leyton Orient.
Northampton travel to the North-West, also with the luxury of being able to continue with their preferred 4-4-2 formation and XI.
Sam Hoskins and Louis Appere will be hoping to maintain their fine partnership upfront for The Cobblers, with Hoskins netting 16 league goals for Town this season, and Appere bagging three goals and three assists in League Two this season.
Barrow possible starting lineup:
Farman; Brough, Canavan, Ray, Warren; White, Neal; Waters, Gotts, Whitfield; Gordon
Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
King; Odimayo, Dyche, Sherring, McGowan; Sowerby, Leonard, Fox, Pinnock; Appere, Hoskins
We say: Barrow 2-2 Northampton Town
Both these teams score and concede a similar amount of goals, with them having each scored and conceded in three of their last five fixtures.
Barrow and Northampton have also each only won once in their last five games, so a high-scoring draw is the most likely outcome - especially with both sides having a pressing need for points and, possibly, being afraid to lose.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ollie Hawthorn
