Football – England – League Two
Saturday 5th April 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
I now focus on League Two and in particular, hosts Accrington Stanley taking on Northampton Town who are still fighting for their league survival and as the relegation battle hots up with just six games left to play.
Accrington’s recent uplift in form has put valuable points and daylight between themselves and the relegation battle that is ensuing below them as they’ve recorded vital wins over Morecambe 5-1 and Exeter City 1-0 away along with points against Plymouth Argyle and Dagenham & Redbridge in 1-1 and 0-0 draws respectively. This four match unbeaten run couldn’t have come at a better time for James Beattie’s men in their fight for League Two survival which seemed hopeless after a horrific start to the season.
However, Stanley have really turned things around and have lost just five matches in the seventeen league matches since the turn of the year which has lifted them off the bottom of the division, and indeed a win today could take them into a mid-table position. Accrington’s home form has been solid in the last couple of months with just one defeat from their last nine and an overall home record which now stands at a more respectable 5-9-6 29/25.
In addition, Accrington have lost just once at home to lower half opposition so far this season from eight matches.
Northampton Town’s progress against relegation has taken a slight dip in recent weeks though as The Cobblers have now gone five matches without a win (four of these were at Sixfields Stadium), as they still remain in the bottom two with just six matches of the season remaining.
Three points from the last possible 15 is not the sort of return manager Chris Wilder was expecting in the run-in to the season particularly as he’d been the architecture of Northampton’s revival when he was appointed and his side had put together a five match unbeaten run.
But fortunes can change very quickly in football and Northampton still remain in one of the two relegation spots with a trip to Accrington at the weekend. Northampton’s overall away record stands at 4-6-10 13/24 but they’ve also turned in some promising results on their travels as they’ve lost just once in their last eight away from home.
This is expected to be a really tight affair and will probably be a low-scoring one too, but with Accrington having home advantage, I recommend backing them with the round ball in what could be a 1-0 win for Stanley.
Pick: Accrington Stanley AH0 @ 1.66 Pinnacle
