Another busy week at Sixfields to ponder today as two more wins moves us into the top half of the table for the first time in months whilst the transfer window comes to an end tomorrow and there’s still no sign of the mystery striker.
Two home games brought six valuable points home this week and following on from the 1-0 win at Gillingham the victories were very different but both so priceless in the race to escape the doldrums of a relegation scrap.
Orient saw us full of flair and attacking fluency and the most pleasing thing wasn’t the fact that we won the game but the fact that we did it in style, with a reported fifteen passes in one move, unheard of for us this season! Poul Hubertz returned from suspension to net the penalty and how good it is to have the big man back in the side following three games without his services. Ryan Gilligan also won rave reviews for a workmanlike performance along side him.
It was a great shame to lose Daniel Jones back to Wolves as his loan spell finally came to an end. Someone of his undoubted quality will be missed but it’s understandable that Wolves want him back and also for the player to get a shot at Championship football. Jones came off the bench for the last twenty minutes or so last night so good luck to him in the future.
So there was just one change to make for last night’s game but despite losing Jones we pulled off a very different type of win as Brighton fought with us and between themselves to try and stop our attack on the top half. But the solitary Mark Hughes header, his first goal of the season, was enough and despite a performance level lower than Friday night we scrapped out the win and it’s those sorts of games that will make all the difference come the end of the season.
The transfer window slams shut tomorrow at midnight and there’s still no news of the big signing, being touted by many as Simon Cox. Cox is seemingly holding out for Swindon though and we could well miss out. Either way we have to hope that Stuart Gray has a back up plan if Plan A doesn’t come off.
The next three fixtures will be extremely tough. Swindon are going well and will be a hard nut to crack at The County Ground whilst we all know about the quality of Leeds despite their recent slump. Yeovil will then of course see us up against a certain former striker of ours. The points return from these three games could see if we’re good enough to make the step up to an established top half team and maybe even pushing for the playoffs or whether we once again have to lift ourselves out of the lower regions of the league.
It’s a very open league at the moment with seven points separating us from the bottom four and eight between us and third place so we’re once again in a position where it could go either way.
Up The Cobblers!
Danny
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