James Heneghan's Northampton Town v Exeter City preview

Date/time: Saturday, February 22, 3pm kick-off

Venue: PTS Academy Stadium

Forecast: 11C, cloudy (and windy again...)

Outs and doubts: Cobblers: Alan McCormack, James Olayinka, Andy Williams, Harry Smith, Shaun McWilliams. Exeter: Jack Sparkes, Jonny Maxted, Craig Woodman

Betting: Northampton 29/20, draw 12/5, Exeter 19/10

Form guide: Cobblers LLLLWW, Grecians LWWW

Current league positions: 8th v 2nd

Possible line-ups: Northampton (3-5-2): Cornell; Goode, Turnbull, Wharton; Watson, Lines, Anderson, Marshall, Adams; Oliver, Morton. Exeter (3-5-2): Ward; Sweeney, Martin, Moxey; Williams, Collins, Atangana, Jay, Dickenson; Bowman, Ajose

Man in the middle: Martin Coy

Last time out: Walsall 3 Northampton 2 (Morton 2); Portsmouth 3 Exeter 2 (Taylor, Burgess OG)

Most recent meeting: Saturday, December 7, 2019 - Exeter 3 (Williams, Martin, Fisher) Northampton 2 (Goode, Hoskins)

Record v Exeter: P116 W52 D34 L30

James Heneghan's preview: We're still some way off 'must-win' territory but if the Cobblers do not at least stop the losing rot by avoiding defeat against title-chasing Exeter City this weekend, you fear their promotion challenge may not recover.

Once momentum has been lost, it's hard to wrestle it back and with two difficult away games to come following tomorrow's visit of the in-form Grecians, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Town could soon be on a seven-match winless run.

But as we've seen over the past couple of weeks, things can change quickly in football and whilst it's rapidly gone downhill for the Cobblers with four straight defeats, it can easily go the other way too and victory at the expense of Exeter would immediately lift spirits again.

It will not be easy, though. While Town were losing 3-2 after a stoppage-time equaliser at Walsall last weekend, Exeter were doing the opposite as they scored late to beat Macclesfield by the same margin, lifting them level on points with Swindon at the top of the table.

There was midweek heartbreak for the Grecians though as their dreams of a Wembley final in the EFL Trophy were dashed by a double dose of stoppage-time drama against Portsmouth. Despite making it 2-1 in the 89th minute at Fratton Park, they were beaten 3-2 as familiar face John Marquis grabbed the winner.

But City's performance, with a much-changed side no less, against a team chasing promotion from League One underlined their undoubted quality. Cobblers could ask for easier opposition as they attempt to get their season back on track.

Prediction: Northampton Town 1 Exeter City 1