Cobblers boss Boothroyd keen to keep lid on expectation

Northampton go to Chesterfield on Saturday on the back of a three-game winning streak and with a run of just one npower League Two loss that stretches back almost seven weeks.

They also boast the best home record in the division, with no team matching their return of nine wins on home soil so far this season.

Such form has taken Town to within a point of the play-off places and four of third-placed Rotherham United in the final automatic promotion place.

The team is now rated at 12/5 to reach the top seven this season and 6/1 to be promoted, but Boothroyd is trying to maintain a level-headed approach at Sixfields.

“Stopping momentum is a big thing and so is gaining momentum,” said the manager, who is only without striker Alex Nicholls and right-back Nana for the trip to Derbyshire this weekend.

“We’re in a position now where it’s not just the manager saying we can do something, the players are saying it now as well and when you’ve got that you’ve certainly got a chance.

“My biggest issue right now is managing expectation.

“We’ve gone from being delighted to have a corner to actually thinking we can win a game at home and maybe win one away, and that maybe this year... We’re getting into those realms.

“When you get that you sometimes get some fanatics that get too excited, just like they get too depressed when things are not going well.

“That’s all over the place, throughout the club, everyone has an opinion and that’s football and that’s how the game should be.

“My job is to say ‘hang on a minute, we’re only in January’ and point out that we’re only just in the top 10.

“We have to focus on what is important, and that’s always the next game.”