Brady hopes Cobblers can raise their game for the big occasion once again

Cobblers boss Jon Brady is hoping his side can raise their game for the big occasion once again when they head to Carlisle United for Saturday’s promotion showdown at Brunton Park.

Northampton have a good record against teams in and around the promotion race this season having beaten Barrow (twice), Mansfield, Stevenage, Leyton Orient, Bradford and Stockport, as well as winning the reverse fixture at Carlisle in December.

Brady’s men face a daunting task at what’s likely to be a bouncing Brunton Park this weekend, especially with so many players out injured, but they will go there aiming for all three points.

"It'll only be a great occasion if we play well and come away with a good result,” said Brady. “We will be trying everything we can to do that. They've had an excellent season and they'll have their home crowd behind them.

"It's a game between two teams who have rightly earned the opportunity to be there or thereabouts and it should be an interesting game.

"I think their recruitment has been really good, so has ours, and it's two exciting sides who have been up in that top five or six pretty much all season.

"It should be a good game for the neutral but most importantly we want it to be a good game for us.

"We have a good record against the teams in the top eight but it comes down to how you perform on the day and we are preparing to be at our best on Saturday and we're really looking forward to the game.”