Cobblers boss Keith Curle says that he doesn't expect Saturday’s opponents Scunthorpe United to stay close to the foot of the table for long.
The Iron currently sit 22nd in the table, but Curle expects them to be towards the top of the table and challenging before much longer.
“Scunthorpe have been hammered with injuries at the beginning of the season so I think it’s been hard for them to get that continuity in the team and in results,” he said.
“They are just getting to the stage now where consistently they are getting players back so they have better options. I think they’ve got a very good squad and they haven’t been getting the results they would have perhaps anticipated.
“With the quality they have you would assume they will be in and around the top ten come the end of the season.
“They have players with quality and Kevin van Veen is one of those. There is no doubt Kevin has the ability to play much higher he just needs to find that level of consistency.
“I’ve got a lot of time for Kevin and it will be good to see him on Saturday.”