Swindon are hoping to put the past week behind them and get back to winning ways against Northampton Town at the Energy Check County Ground.
Town failed to score against both Oldham and Crewe, in midweek, after scoring in every single league game before that so far this season.
Matt Taylor returns from suspension to face his former club.
The Oppo
Northampton have only won one game so far this season – and are sitting 21st in the division.
He becomes the sixth Northampton boss since May 2016, when they lifted the League Two title. Dean Austin was in charge for only 12 games before receiving the sack last weekend.
The Northamptonshire outfit went all the way through September without winning a game and a 4-0 beating from Mansfield was the final nail in the coffin for Austin whose departure was announced the day after the game.
Last time out, in midweek, Northampton were held by Bury to a 0-0 draw at Sixfields.
Head-to-head
Results between Swindon and the Cobblers seem to come in seasonal pairs – each time the two teams have been in the same division since 2007 the results have gone one way.
Last season, Northampton did the double, but back in 2012 it was Swindon who bested their Northamptonshire counterparts both times. Town had done the same in the 2008-09 season with two wins, with the campaign previous seeing two draws between the League One clubs.
Lee Holmes was on target the last time Town beat the Cobblers – his 52nd minute effort sealed three points for Paolo Di Canio’s men.
11 Aug 2007 Northampton Town v Swindon Town D 1-1 League One
02 Feb 2008 Swindon Town v Northampton Town D 1-1 League One
21 Oct 2008 Swindon Town v Northampton Town W 2-1 League One
24 Mar 2009 Northampton Town v Swindon Town W 3-4 League One
31 Dec 2011 Northampton Town v Swindon Town W 1-2 League Two
09 Apr 2012 Swindon Town v Northampton Town W 1-0 League Two
27 Sep 2016 Swindon Town v Northampton Town L 1-3 League One
14 Feb 2017 Northampton Town v Swindon Town L 2-1 League One
Before last season, you would have to have trailed back to 2003 in the history books to find a Northampton win – Paul Harsley bagged a goal just past the hour mark to win 1-0.
The Gaffer
Keith Curle will be hoping to turn the Cobbers’ season around.
He becomes the sixth Northampton boss since May 2016, when they lifted the League Two title. Dean Austin was in charge for only 12 games before receiving the sack last weekend.
As a player, Curle turned out as a defender for Bristol Rovers, Torquay United, Bristol City, Reading, Wimbledon, Manchester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sheffield United, and Barnsley before ending his career in 2005 at Mansfield as player-manager.
His longest stints were at Bristol City (149 appearances), Manchester City (207), and Wolves (172).
He stopped playing in 2004, and after leaving Mansfield went to Chester before spells at Torquay, Notts County and Carlisle United, for four years.
Old Friends
There’ll be several familiar faces for fans of both teams this weekend.
Matt Taylor, Keshi Anderson, Jak McCourt have all had spells at Northampton over the last couple of years. Marc Richards, however, is the most familiar of the current Town players facing the Cobblers on Saturday.
Richards has played over 200 times for the Northamptonshire side over two spells – in his first he made 66 appearances and scored 13 goals. After re-joining in 2014, the striker turned out 144 times and bagged 50 goals in the most prolific spell of his career.
On the flip side, Northampton boast three ex-Robins – Yaser Kasim, Jordan Turnbull and Andy Williams.
All three were part of the squad that almost made it to the Championship under Mark Cooper back in 2015. Turnbull, at the time, was on-loan from Southampton with Kasim and Williams both permanent fixtures in that team.
