Northampton pushed closer to League One trapdoor after defeat at home to Wigan

Northampton Town’s hopes of staying up took another major hit after they lost 3-1 at home to Wigan Athletic.

Callum Wright, a Jon Guthrie own goal and Will Aimson won the match for the Latics, who boosted their own hopes of staying up and added to Northampton’s doom and gloom.

Jake Evans had grabbed a goal back for the Cobblers between the second and third Wigan strikes, but the result means Northampton have now suffered 7 straight League One defeats.

The Cobblers, who have won just one league game since Christmas, sit 23rd in League One and 13 points from safety with just 15 to play for. Results elsewhere could send the Cobblers down without playing next weekend, but it now looks a matter of when and not if they return to League Two after three seasons in the third tier.

A busy opening to the game saw both sides come close. Wigan saw Fraser Murray curl a strike wide before Joe Taylor saw a header kept out by Lee Burge in the Northampton goal, while at the other end, the Cobblers’ Cameron McGeehan missed the target from close range.

Wigan would open the scoring after 15 minutes. Murray and Matt Smith combined for the latter to release Wright, and Wright duly burst through before scoring the goal.

Michael Jacobs was denied by Tickle in a decent attempt for Northampton to grab an equaliser, but much of the game would see Wigan try for a second and they would get it in the final moments of the first half.

Skipper Guthrie was the unfortunate man to put Wigan 2-0 up, as the Cobblers defender turned in Murray’s corner under pressure from former Northampton loanee Dara Costelloe.

Northampton largely struggled to get back into things for much of the second half, but with 10 minutes of the half to play, the Cobblers would get a goal back as Leicester loanee Evans beat two defenders before curling in a decent strike.

But any hope of a comeback was extinguished with 2 minutes of the 90 to go, as Aimson headed in Murray’s corner to confirm the three points for the side from Lancashire.

Defeat means Northampton are now left leading a miracle to stay in the third tier, with their fate now potentially out of their own hands.