Right now it feels as if our promotion chances are at sixes and sevens, but still we head to Sixfields with hope in our hearts.
If we want to keep pace with the half dozen sides above us on the fringes of the play offs, we desperately need a result at Northampton Town's Sixfields stadium on Saturday afternoon. At the time of writing we're seven points away from Reading in the last of the play-off places, creeping ever closer to Crawley five points below us in the relegation zone. As for the automatic promotion places, it would take us six games to make up the 18 point gap to Birmingham in second place. It's looking ever more like a three horse race at the top between them, Wycombe Wanderers and Wrexham.
Below them, Huddersfield have hit a burst of form of late but from fourth to eighth everyone else is spluttering in and out of form. That at least gives us hope that if we do manage to go on a run that’s backed up by the right signings in January, we could yet find the spring in our step towards a play-off challenge in 2025. It's unlikely as things stand, but never say die and all that. Of course, it's no easy task going to Northampton's compact out of town ground at any time, never mind when they too have been struggling to pick up points. They're hovering below us in 19th place with 21 points. A win would draw them level, although their goal difference of -8 is inferior to ours by seven and hopefully even the most fatalistic amongst our fan base surely can't countenance any universe where we suffer a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Northampton Town.
It's just six and a half years since we went there in one of Lee Bowyer's first games in charge and hammered The Cobblers 4-0 on their own patch on a day when Tariqe Fosu was absolutely unplayable, scoring twice and bossing everything from the left side of midfield. Ironically he's now in the Northampton ranks where he has hit 3 goals in 12 League appearances. We'll be hoping it's not lucky thirteen at the weekend and a case of another ex-Addick returning to haunt us.
For those making the trip and keeping the faith, well done; it's a relatively short journey as travels go in this North and West facing division and a good day out. There are some fine pubs in Northampton including some craft places and a decent snooker hall with a very good bar. There's also a lot of history around the town, including several sites dedicated to the memory of the footballer and soldier Walter Tull who was one of the first black players in the British game before dying in action in the First World War in the spring of 1918. Maybe a sad ending to this piece but we'll be hoping that come 5pm on Saturday we've got something to smile about. Though not far away, it could be a long road home from Northampton if we leave empty-handed, with echoes of January's defeat at The Valley which signalled the end of the Michael Appleton era. We need something from Sixfields if it's not to feel like we've come full circle without really going anywhere.