James Heneghan's Plymouth Argyle v Northampton Town preview

Date/time: Saturday, October 17, 3pm kick-off

Venue: Home Park

Forecast: 14C, cloudy

Outs and doubts: Plymouth: Lewis MacLeod. Cobblers: Scott Pollock, Joseph Mills, Joe Nuttall

Betting: Plymouth 17/20, draw 14/5, Northampton 3/1

Form guide: Pilgrims WLLDDL, Cobblers LWLLWL

Current league positions: 8th v 19th

Possible line-ups: Plymouth (3-5-2): Cooper; Aimson, Canavan, Watts; Moore, Grant, Fornah, Mayor, Cooper; Nouble, Jephcott. Northampton (3-4-1-2): Arnold; Racic, Bolger, Horsfall; Adams, Missilou, Sowerby, Mills; Hoskins; Rose, Ashley-Seal

Man in the middle: Craig Hicks

Last time out: Plymouth 2 (Jephcott, Moore) Burton 0; Northampton 0 Peterborough 2

Most recent meeting: Saturday, August 31, 2019 - Northampton Town 3 (Watson, Williams 2) Plymouth 1 (Riley)

Record v Plymouth: P60 W24 D12 L24

James Heneghan's preview: Cobblers are set to play their first game against a fellow promoted side this weekend and it would be fair to say that tomorrow's hosts have made the quicker adjustment to life in League One.

Plymouth Argyle finished third under the points-per-game method used to decide the League Two standings last season and given their form at the time of lockdown - two defeats in 14 league games - they were full value for an eventual place in the third tier.

Pilgrims boss Ryan Lowe is one of the more intriguing managers in the lower leagues and so far his high-risk, expansive style of play has gone down well in League One, particularly at home where Argyle have beaten Blackpool and Burton and drawn with Shrewsbury.

But it will be interesting if Lowe changes tack this weekend given what happened when these two last met. That meeting came at precisely this stage of last season - six games in - and was perhaps the fixture that kick-started Town's campaign as they pressed high and completely suffocated the Pilgrims, deservedly running out 3-1 winners.

How Keith Curle would love a repeat at Home Park this weekend. Four points from his side's opening two games was a solid enough start but three defeats since, all without scoring, has raised alarm bells.

It's more the manner of their performances, rather than the results themselves, that have caused concern. Defensive mishaps have proved costly and although they can be ironed out with work on the training pitch, solving Town's creative problem - they've managed just four shots on target in the last three games - might not be such a quick fix.

On the plus side, Curle has had a full week of training to work with his new-look squad and it's not as if he is short on options for the long trip to Devon. Benny Ashley-Seal's lively cameo off the bench against Peterborough could earn him a start while Ricky Korboa is also fully fit again.

Curle hinted in the week he could change Town's shape to find a system that best suits his new players. Although that seems unlikely - for now at least - he must find a winning formula and soon.

Prediction: Plymouth Argyle 2 Northampton Town 1