Frustrated Cobblers boss Boothroyd focuses on Dagenham test

The Daggers come to Northampton for the first game of 2013 after back-to-back postponements wiped out two festive fixtures, at AFC Wimbledon and Gillingham.

That inaction means the club has slipped to 12th in npower League Two, with the gap to the play-offs now six points, although Town do now have two games in hand on seventh-placed Burton Albion.

But the next two games are both on home soil, with Fleetwood the visitors on Saturday and Dagenham on January 1.

“It was very disappointing (to have the game at Gillingham postponed) but it’s one of those situations that you just have to get on with,” said Boothroyd.

“We were not at Gillingham but we trust the referee’s judgement and if the pitch is not fit to be played on then it is not fit to be played on.

“What it does mean is that we may have four away games on the spin at some point but we’ll deal with that as well.

“It just makes the game against Dagenham even more important now. It’s important to keep our momentum going.”

Losing the two games between Christmas and the New Year means the team has lost ground on the promotion chasers but there is some comfort for the manager, who could received all of his injured players back to varying degrees of fitness for the Dagenham game.

“We’ll have games in hand on other teams now but they’re only of any use if you get something out of them,” said Boothroyd, who was set to name Luke Guttridge on the bench for the game at Wimbledon.

“The positive is that we can get players back. Luke Guttridge, John Johnson and David Artell should all be back by then.

“Joe Widdowson will be back by then as well and when you add those four names to the squad it certainly makes it look a lot stronger.”