Simpson praises Cobblers as Carlisle aim to avoid relegation at Sixfields

Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson hopes his side can stave off relegation for another week by winning at Sixfields on Saturday.

Thirteen points from safety with only five games to go, Carlisle are set to make an immediate return to League Two having followed Northampton in winning promotion through the play-offs last season.

Defeat at Sixfields would confirm United’s fate, and even victory might not be enough depending on other results, but Simpson believes his side can take confidence from their last away game when they shocked promotion-chasing Peterborough 3-1 on Good Friday.

"Northampton have done very well this season,” said Simpson. “They made some good additions in the summer and they are sat in a very decent position. They probably don’t have enough games left to make a push for the play-offs but I’m sure Jon (Brady) will be very happy with the season they’ve had.

"He’ll certainly be more pleased than I am but it’s another tough game. They’ve had a mixed bag of results recently but they picked up a great win against Derby and it’s just the next game for us and we’ll approach it in the same way we always do.

"Northampton are a good side at home and it’s never an easy place to go. We’ve had some tough battles against them over my time at the club and I don’t expect this to be any different but we should take confidence from what we did at Peterborough and I expect a proper performance.”

Asked about Sam Hoskins, Simpson added: "Sam’s a goalscorer, it’s as simple as that, and he has an enthusiasm that’s infectious. He works and he chases but they’ve got other threats as well and they have a good group of players and they deserve to be in the position they are in.

"We just have to make sure we give 100 per cent in every single game and deal with whatever comes.”

Dylan McGeouch is out with a calf injury but otherwise Carlisle have no fresh injury concerns.