Northampton Town’s recent record against Southend United does not make pleasant reading for Cobblers fans. In the last ten meetings between the sides, Southend have won seven with three draws.
“Thanks for that reminder,” said manager Ian Sampson, who
was playing for Northampton the last time they beat the Shrimpers back in
November 2003. “We’ll try to put it right on Saturday.”
That match was at Roots Hall and you have to go back to February 1998 for the previous time they were victorious at Sixfields – the venue for this Saturday’s clash – where goals from Chris Freestone, David Brightwell and John Frain earned a 3-1 win.
Of course, there have been several seasons in between where the sides have not faced each other due to being in different divisions, but Northampton need to end this hoodoo if they are to secure their first League Two win of the season.
The Cobblers have received a double boost this week. The first came with the signing of prolific striker Leon McKenzie until the end of the season, while Ryan Gilligan has also put off his ankle operation to help ease the club’s injury concerns.
“He’s seen our circumstances regarding numbers, and he trained on Tuesday and had no real ill effects so we’re happy to have him back on board,” said Sampson.
“I think it’s great that he’s prepared to put himself out and delay the operation.
“How long that will for last we don’t know, but he’s prepared to put himself out there which is fantastic for us and all credit must go to Ryan for that.”
Tadhg Purcell was in hospital last night undergoing an operation on his season-ending knee injury. Marcus Hall is expected to be out for two more weeks, while Craig Hinton is having an injection to help him cope with his troublesome knee.
With Purcell unavailable, Sampson was delighted to have tied up a deal for former Peterborough United striker McKenzie who was available on a free transfer after being released by Charlton Athletic in the summer.
The 32-year-old had been training with QPR and also had a short stint in Greece over the summer as he considered moving abroad. Nevertheless, he has chosen to remain in England and join the Cobblers.
Sampson said: “We’ve worked on a few things trying to get players in and I’m happy that we’ve got one. I’m hoping he brings some goals, we know he’s got experience and he’s scored goals at pretty much every club he’s been at.
“We’ve lacked goals so far this season and it will take a bit of pressure off of the other lads. We’re demanding goals from them and it’s not happening at the moment, so he’ll come in and hopefully he can put them in.”
The Northampton boss admitted that he was slightly surprised that a player of McKenzie’s pedigree was still available, but added that was down to the current economic circumstances.
He said: “I think it was a little bit, but we're not the only club that have had to pull the purse strings in.
“There are lots of players out there - I think reports have said there’s up to 200 that were involved last year who are out of contract. With the economic climate that’s just the way it has been.”
