After finishing February with a three-game unbeaten run, Northampton have failed to replicate that sort of form this month, taking just two points from their last five matches.
Jon Brady’s side played out draws with Charlton Athletic and Cambridge United on either side of a heavy loss to Peterborough United, before they fell to back-to-back defeats against Blackpool and Wycombe Wanderers.
Despite experiencing a poor run of results, the Cobblers can still be pleased with the fact that they are sitting in a comfortable mid-table position in their first season back in the third tier since the 2020-21 campaign.
While they may be set to extend their stay in League One into a second straight season, they will still be keen to spark an upturn in fortunes and challenge for a top-half finish in their final seven matches.
Having failed to score more than one goal in their last five games, Northampton will need to offer an improvement in the final third if they are to trouble a Derby side that boasts the third-best defensive record in the division.
Derby have recovered from consecutive defeats at the end of February to put together a four-game winning run, which began with successive 3-0 victories over Port Vale and Bristol Rovers.
They went on to edge out Reading via a 2-1 scoreline, before they recorded another narrow victory in last Saturday’s crucial meeting with promotion rivals Bolton Wanderers.
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Kane Wilson’s 78th-minute effort proved enough to secure a precious 1-0 win and move his side four points clear of third-placed Bolton.
With Derby one of just six teams in League One action this weekend, they know that a fifth consecutive victory would extend the gap to Bolton to seven points and move them to within two points of leaders Portsmouth.
Paul Warne’s charges will certainly fancy their chances of claiming the spoils after they cruised to a 4-0 win over Northampton when the two sides last met in October’s reverse fixture.
