Bowditch hoping for a happy Huish Park return with Cobblers

Dean Bowditch will return to one of his happiest hunting grounds when he lines up for the Cobblers at Yeovil Town on Saturday (ko 3pm).
Dean Bowditch in action for Yeovil at Rushden & Diamonds at Nene Park in 2010Dean Bowditch in action for Yeovil at Rushden & Diamonds at Nene Park in 2010
Dean Bowditch in action for Yeovil at Rushden & Diamonds at Nene Park in 2010

And the 32-year-old would love to mark the occasion with a second goal in as many games, and a three-point haul for Town.

Bowditch spent two seasons at Huish Park between 2009 and 2011, scoring 25 goals in 70 starts after signing for the Glovers on a free transfer from Ipswich Town.

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His form in the green and white hoops saw him earn a move to Milton Keynes Dons, where he stayed for six productive years before making the switch tothe Cobblers in the summer of 2017.

Dean Bowditch celebrates his Cobblers goal against Stevenage last weekendDean Bowditch celebrates his Cobblers goal against Stevenage last weekend
Dean Bowditch celebrates his Cobblers goal against Stevenage last weekend

This weekend will only be the second time he has returned to the Somerset club since he left, and he is looking forward to it.

“It was a really, really good spell for me at Yeovil,” said Bowditch.

“I scored a lot of goals down there and was given a load of chances, as Terry Skiverton (the manager) was great with me and he put a lot of faith in me.

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“Unlike here at Northampton where we have a bigger squad and can rotate players, we only had a small squad there and if you were fit you were playing!

“I managed to play a lot of games, got a lot of minutes, and my career started again there really.

“Since leaving, I think I have only played one game down there.

“I have either been injured or not played, and I didn’t score in that one game - so hopefully I can do it in this one.”

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Bowditch finally broke his scoring duck for the Cobblers when he netted in the 1-1 draw with Stevenage last weekend, and he admitted: “It’s a relief as it has been a really up and down Northampton start for me.

“But the new manager has come in and put a little bit of trust in me in the past couple of games.

“Hopefully I have paid that back a little bit and moving forward that is what I want to do, I want to score more goals and get a few assists as well.”

So will it be weird returning to his old Huish Park stomping ground?

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“It’s not weird, you just have that feeling of comfort in a way because you are going somewhere that you know where you are going, and you will know some of the people who still work there,” said Bowditch.

“You don’t have that feeling of going into the unknown, you know everything there.

“It is another game, but it’s just you get to see some old faces.”

Yeovil have been on a terrible run of form of late.

They brought an end to a four-match losing streak with a 0-0 draw at fellow strugglers Cambridge United last weekend, but they sit just three points and four places above the Sky Bet League Two relegation zone.

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The Cobblers for their part are concentrating on the teams above them rather than below them, with the draw with Stevenage last weekend seeing them move to within seven points of the play-off places.

But Bowditch is warning his Town team-mates that they can’t afford to take the Glovers lightly this weekend.

“If we are going to push for the play-offs then we need to look for three points in every game,” said the Cobblers attacker.

“I played at Yeovil for two years and it is a hard place to go.

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“They will be looking to get as many points as they can for themselves over the Christmas period, and it is a small, family club that, when everyone is together and tight, it can be a good place to play.

“So we just have to go down there with the one thought in mind: to get three points, regardless of who we are playing.”