James Heneghan's Northampton Town v Rochdale preview

Fixture: Northampton Town v Rochdale, Sky Bet League Two
Can Cobblers go three from three for the first time in more than 30 years?Can Cobblers go three from three for the first time in more than 30 years?
Can Cobblers go three from three for the first time in more than 30 years?

Date/time: Saturday, August 21, 3pm kick-off

Venue: Sixfields

Forecast: 17C, showers

Outs and doubts: Cobblers: Fraser Horsfall, Michael Harriman, Jack Sowerby, Jordan Flores. Dale: George Broadbent, Conor Grant, Jimmy McNulty, Aidy White

Betting: Northampton 21/20, draw 13/5, Rochdale 5/2

Form guide: Cobblers WWW, Dale LDL

Possible line-ups: Northampton (4-4-2): Roberts; McGowan, Nelson, Guthrie, Mills; Hoskins, Lewis, McWilliams, Pinnock; Etete, Kabamba. Rochdale (3-5-2): Lynch; Graham, O'Connell, Taylor; O'Keeffe, Morley, Dooley, Done; Odoh, Beesley, Newby.

Man in the middle: Carl Brook

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Last time out: Colchester 0 Northampton 1 (Guthrie); Rochdale 1 (Newby) Forest Green 2 (Matt, Stevens)

Most recent meeting: Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - Northampton Town 0 AFC Rochdale 0

Record v Rochdale: P65 W20 D24 L21

James Heneghan's preview: The Cobblers will obviously need to improve if they are to turn their excellent start to the new season into something more substantial, but you cannot argue with three wins from three.

Not since 2015/16 have Town won their opening two league games and we all know what happened that season, although not even Chris Wilder's runaway champions were able to make it three in a row, stopped in their tracks by an away defeat at Barnet.

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In slow-starting, COVID-hit Rochdale, Jon Brady's Cobblers this weekend have an opportunity to start their campaign with three successive league wins, something they have not achieved since the 1990/91 season when they beat Hereford, Maidstone and Blackpool.

However, whilst points on the board are always welcome, even Brady himself would accept his side's performances have been more workmanlike than assertive. In fact, you could argue their best display so far actually came in the League Cup victory at Coventry City.

The two league encounters were tight, evenly-matched affairs that could have gone either way, although it was encouraging that Town were able to see out the three points on both occasions, particularly with 10 men over in Essex. The next step is to add a touch of attacking flair to their defensive resolve.

On Saturday, the Cobblers face another side who were also relegated from League One last season, but it's fair to say Rochdale have endured a much more difficult return to the fourth tier.

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Plagued by a battle for control of the club off the pitch and hit by COVID on it, Dale are still reeling from the loss of manager Brian Barry-Murphy to Manchester City U23s in the summer. They have only one point from their three games and go into Saturday on the back of a home defeat to early league leaders Forest Green Rovers.

Robbie Stockdale is now the man in charge at Spotland but it's hardly been plain-sailing so far. Having lost the likes of Oliver Rathbone, Matty Lund and exciting teenage winger Kwadwo Baah in the transfer market, George Broadbent, Conor Grant, Jimmy McNulty and Aidy White all then went down with COVID and look set to miss out tomorrow.

That said, Dale are certainly not a team to be taken lightly. Whilst results on the face of it have been disappointing, reports suggest they could easily have taken something from all three games so far. Missed chances is the biggest reason for their slow start and it doesn't take a lot for that to change.

But from Brady and Northampton's point of view, this will be seen as a very winnable fixture. And as just one of five EFL teams still with a 100 per cent record, three points on Saturday would turn a good start into a great one.

Prediction: Northampton Town 2 Rochdale 1