Sowerby knows in-form Cobblers have to keep their focus

It has been a fantastic few weeks for Jon Brady’s team.

After something of a stuttering start to life in the third tier following their promotion from league two last season, the Cobblers have really found their feet in the past couple of months.

Seven wins and a draw from their past 10 league games has catapulted Town from one place above the relegation zone to ninth, and, whisper it, to within sight of the promotion play-off places.

Perhaps more importantly, and impressively, the Cobblers are 13 points above the drop zone.

They are one of the form teams of the division, and will go into this Saturday's home date with Wigan Athletic (ko 3pm) full of confidence after a festive period that saw them claim three wins out of four in the space of nine hectic days.

There is a feelgood factor around Sixfields and the players feel it as well, but experienced central midfielder Sowerby knows this is also no time to get carried away.

"I don't think we will take anything for granted at the minute," he said.

"Obviously it is a tough league with a lot of good teams, and anything can happen and change.

"So we just need to focus on the next game, and then the next game after that, and just keep getting as many points as we can.

"I think at the start of the season we were playing well, but we weren't quite getting the results.

"Now we have continued to play well, and the results are starting to come our way, which is good."

Saturday's visitors to Sixfields certainly carry plenty of attacking threat and will prove a big challenge, despite their lowly league position of 18th.

That is down to the eight-point deduction the Latics were hit with before the season started, and without it they would be sitting handily in 10th, just a point behind the Cobblers.

Wigan go into Saturday’s Sixfields showdown off the back of a more than respectable performance in FA Cup defeat to Manchester United on Monday night.

Shaun Maloney’s side were eventually beaten 2-0 by the Premier League giants in their third round encounter, but had their attacking moments.

In the first half in particular they caused Erik Ten Haag’s outfit a few problems, before United showed their class and quality to ease to victory.

The Cobblers were beaten 2-1 at the DW Stadium back in August, which Sowerby feels was harsh on him and his team-mates.

And he is expecting another close game this weekend.

"If you look back at that game, I think we definitely should have come away with something, and could have even won the game,” he said.

"I think we had a good chance before they went and scored, so we are obviously looking to put things right this weekend.

"If the weather is good, then I think it is going to be two teams that will be looking to play good football, and getting a lot of attacking threats into the opposition box."