Cobblers boss Boothroyd hoping for repeat away performance at Gillingham

Aidy Boothroyd is confident his team were close to the perfect away-day recipe at Aldershot last week but hinted tactical adjustments will be made for the trip to Gillingham tonight (Tues).

The midweek fixture sees second play third at Priestfield, with the Northampton squad travelling to Kent in high spirits after a run of five wins in six games.

The most recent of those came in the snow at Aldershot and with the team playing in a new-look 4-5-1 formation that had Clive Platt as its sole striker.

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Boothroyd is likely to send his team out using a similar system against the Gills, who have taken just two points from their past five home games, although he suggests there may be some slight tweaks.

“We had to do something different, that was for sure,” he said.

“Our away form had to improve and it still has to be a lot, lot better than what it is at the moment.

“There have been some games where we have come close to getting that winning recipe away from home but every team you play presents you with different tests and problems to overcome.

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Gillingham are very different to Aldershot in terms of what they’ve got, how they play and what they produce at home.

“So while we’ve got to focus primarily on us we have to also look at what the opposition are doing and look at any ways we can exploit their weaknesses.

“That might mean playing slightly differently and adjusting things to cause them some problems.”

The past seven days have been very good for Northampton - they went third with the win at Aldershot and then preserved that position with the weekend results.

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Last week’s win, Boothroyd feels, represented a marker and signalled that this is a Town team gradually nurturing an away-day confidence that has been notably absent in its road fixtures this term.

“We responded well to going a goal down, we adapted to the conditions better than Aldershot did and in the British winter you have to be able to do that,” he said.

“You have to play the conditions first and then the opposition.

“I thought we could have won by more but on the night I was delighted just to get through the game and get the three points.

“It was an important win for us because it puts a little marker down.”