Soccer: Pepper adds spice to Southend fixture

The 31-year-old has joined Blues on a three-month loan deal from the Scottish Premier Division outfit and is expected to be thrown straight into Blues' Third Division clash with the promotion-chasing Cobblers on Sunday, kick-off 3pm.

"Nigel is the complete midfield player and should give us the extra bit of quality we have been lacking in the centre of the park," said Seasiders boss Alan Little.

Pepper has scored 51 goals in more than 300 league appearances for Rotherham, York and Bradford City.

Little, who fought off a First Division club to sign Pepper, added: "He is a tough man, vastly experienced and has joined us to win games. I've tracked him all season.

"Nigel is also a very good passer of the ball and has a tremendous knack of getting into the box and scoring important goals.

"He is lacking match fitness, so I don't know if he will last 90 minutes against Northampton, but it won't take him long to catch up as he is a natural athlete."

Little's only doubts are flu victims, defender Leo Roget and midfielder Mark Tinkler, but forward Neville Roach has definitely been sidelined by the virus.

The Southend manager will also decide on whether to replace under-fire goalkeeper Mel Capleton with veteran custodian Mark Prudhoe.

Southend (from): Capleton/Prudhoe, Booty, Jones, Coleman, Morley, Tinkler, Pepper, Connelly, Tolson, Carruthers, Houghton, Fitzpatrick, Newman, Maher, Campbell, Cross, Roget.

Good on the wing - Blues' kitman John Threadgold (second from right) and assistant manager Mick Gooding (right) are presented Christmas turkeys for Southend United by (l-r) Mandy Bird, Chris Brown, Lisa McCall, Jenny Banham and Kevin Neat from the Tesco Extra store on the A127

Picture: STEVE O'CONNELL

Cobblers are out to nail Blues

Northampton Town will be hoping Southend United's generosity on home soil continues into the Christmas period when they visit Roots Hall on Boxing Day.

The Cobblers come to Southend attempting to become the fifth team in succession to pull off an away victory against the Blues.

The Shrimpers have lost their last four league and cup encounters at Roots Hall and they face another stiff test against Kevin Wilson's fifth-placed promotion chasers.

Since taking over at Sixfields Stadium, following a short spell as caretaker boss, the ex-Chelsea striker has won six of his first nine matches in charge.

Former boss Ian Atkins left the club, which has just been relegated from the Second Division, in October by mutual consent and now Wilson has been entrusted with the task of lifting Northampton out of Division Three at the first attempt.

With most of last season's squad retained, the Cobblers have a strong side who should at least qualify for the promotion play-offs.

Only a couple of additions have been made to the side, with former Stoke City hitman Simon Sturridge, who once netted a hat-trick at Roots Hall for the Potters, arriving on a free transfer.

The Cobblers have also recruited the services or experienced shot-stopper Keith Welch from Bristol City and West Ham keeper Alex O'Reilly on a year's development loan.

Wilson's only signing has been on-loan frontman Daryl Clare from Grimsby Town, who will play in a fully-fit Northampton line-up.

Northampton (from): Welch, Hendon, Spedding, Howey, Sampson, Frain, Hunter, Parrish, Savage, Clare, Corazzin, O'Reilly, Howard, Sturridge, Hope, Peer, Wilson.

For the record

Last five league meetings:

Mar '88: Northampton 4-0 Blues

Dec '88: Blues 2-1 Northampton

Mar '89: Northampton 2-2 Blues

Oct '97: Blues 0-0 Northampton

Feb '98: Northampton 3-1 Blues

Form book - Northampton's last five league matches:

Home - Plymouth: 1-1

Away - Shrewsbury: 0-1

Home - Cardiff: 1-0 (AWS)

Home - Macclesfield: 2-0

Away - Brighton: 3-1

Echo dangerman:

Daryl Clare - goal-hungry loan hitman

Northampton hotshot:

Carlo Corazzin - eight league goals.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.