Wilder wary of Cobblers’ impressive Wimbledon record

Northampton have never lost to the club formed by fans, winning five of the eight previous meetings between the sides.

But that may inspire more trepidation than belief as Wilder’s men head to Kingsmeadow on Tuesday evening.

That is because they have already seen one good record ruined this season, with Dagenham & Redbridge claiming their first win against Cobblers in 10 attempts.

That 2-1 defeat at Sixfields at the start of September was tough to take, especially as it remains the Daggers’ only league victory of the campaign.

Wimbledon have fared better, winning three of their nine matches in Sky Bet League Two this season.

And they will be desperate to end their barren run against Cobblers, who will be eager to extend it.

“I’d love it to continue, as we’d have loved it to have continued against Dagenham,” said Wilder, having composed himself after making his initial jovial comment.

“They’re all tight games, they’ve made a lot of changes in the summer and brought some real quality into their group.

“I like (Wimbledon manager) Neal (Ardley), I’ve got a lot of time for him and we have tough games - it was a great game down there last year.

“We’d love that (run) to continue, but who knows what happens on the day?

“It’s a tough place to go and it’s a tough period for us with the injuries that we have, but we’ll always give 100 per cent and try to get a result.

“We know we can win, but we’ll have to play better than we did (in the 1-1 draw with Leyton Orient) on Saturday.

“It’s going to be another tough game and sequences that people go on against certain teams are always looked into and they’ll be looking to break it, while we look to continue it.”

Cobblers could be up against their former striker, Adebayo Akinfenwa.

But Wilder played down the Bayo factor, stressing the opposition have threats all over the pitch.

The Town boss said: “He’s one of numerous good players they’ve got and like other people have got.

“We were up against two really good strikers last Saturday and to chuck Zander (Diamond) in after not even being involved in training and (Shaun) Brisley, you saw how well they did.

“They’ve got threats and weaknesses, we go through those, and it’s a tight league so the opposition does have threats, but we’ll try to exploit their weaknesses.”