Aidy Boothroyd will make his Cobblers team fully aware of the danger Exeter City pose on the road when the teams meet at Sixfields tomorrow (3pm kick-off).
The Grecians have won four our of five on their travels in npower League Two this season and are sitting pretty in fourth in the table.
Paul Tisdale, who had a brief spell on loan with Northampton Town in the early 1990s, has guided the team to that position and will look to build on it as he bids to return Exeter to the level from which they were relegated at the end of last season.
Boothroyd is fully aware of the multi-faceted threat the visitors will pose to his team, who last won a league game on September 18 (at Dagenham & Redbridge).
“I’ve come up against teams managed by (Exeter City manager) Paul Tisdale and they always have that flexibility that can cause teams problems,” he said.
“You can see by their away record as well that they’re a team that is going to be a difficult challenge to us.
“With Anthony (Charles) back we have another option and there are lots of different formations I could go with for this game.
“We’ll know where we are with Danny (East) before the game. He’s a tough kid and he wants to play so we’ll have to make a decision about whether to risk him or just get the injury right for the following game and make sure we don’t make it any worse.”
Although Boothroyd reaffirmed his approval of the performance his side produced to beat Colchester United in midweek, he is almost certain to make changes to the starting line-up, with Manchester City midfielder Emyr Huws in line for a debut after arriving on Wednesday.
“The team won on Tuesday and deservedly so, especially based on the performance in the second half,” he said.
“Sometimes it is difficult to change a winning team. I was pleased with the lads that came into the side.
“It was nice to see Henoc (Mukendi) get his goal – his starts have been intermittent, he’s had to make do with coming off the bench a lot of the time but he’s been very professional and he’s worked his socks off.
“He knows that he’s got to fight for his place here and he’s doing that, he’s great in the group.
“It’s nice to be able to bring a six-foot-four player from Liverpool off the bench when we have to.”
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