Appleton: Cobblers will be 'desperate' to beat us

Lincoln City manager Michael Appleton has warned his side that the Cobblers will be 'desperate' to beat them this weekend.

The two teams have had contrasting campaigns so far with Lincoln flying high in fourth and Cobblers struggling down in 20th, although both have lost their last two matches.

Lincoln were surprisingly beaten 1-0 at home by Shrewsbury Town in midweek while Northampton were thrashed 4-0 at Oxford.

“They’ve changed their formation in recent times, so it’ll be interesting to see which way they go,” said Appleton. “They’re a team which are desperate for points and it’ll be a tough challenge away from home.

"We've already seen this season that the league is unpredictable and anyone can beat anyone. You've only got to look at the amount of points the bottom four clubs have got to see that.

"We won't take anything for granted and it will be a difficult game. They're coming off a heavy defeat at Oxford but they had a lot of players missing from that game with injuries and suspensions and some of those will probably return.

"We're expecting a tough encounter but we're looking to get back to winning ways. We’ve got a week without a Tuesday game so hopefully we can go there and get a good result, then have a week before the game on Boxing Day to catch our breath a little bit and regroup.

“Looking at the January fixtures, they’ll come thick and fast. It’s going to be a busy period.”