Northampton Town v Cambridge United: U’s head coach Garry Monk talks up side’s winning intentions going into League One clash at Sixfields Stadium

Head coach Garry Monk has insisted that his Cambridge United side will head to Northampton Town this afternoon with a winning mindset.

While the hosting Cobblers’ form has been indifferent of late, draws from recent trips to Birmingham City and Blackpool provided evidence of how difficult a team they can be to overcome.

With that in mind a draw could be viewed as an acceptable result for the U’s to pick up at Sixfields Stadium, but Monk has stressed that his players will be sent out in search of all three points.

“(Northampton) was my first game here (as head coach) towards the end of last season and that was a difficult game,” said Monk, who confirmed that attacking midfielder Josh Stokes is not yet ready to return from injury.

“They’ve had some really good results and you don’t get those type of results without a committed squad and quality in and amongst it.

“We’re under no illusions how difficult it is and the conditions might play a part, but again – and I say the same thing every week but it’s true – the focus is very much on ourselves.

“If we can get our level of performance to where we know we can, we know we can compete with any team. But we also know we don’t have the luxury of being below that because we have to be at 100 per cent to get something out of the game.

“We’ve got the attitude to try and win the game. You even saw against Barnsley (last week, 1-1 draw), our attitude was to try and win the game. Of course their quality was going to come at some point and they started putting on pressure, so we showed the other side (of the game) and stuck at it.

“It was a good point for us but our intention is always to try to win the game. We want to try and get three points.”

Sixteenth-placed Northampton are six points better off in the League One standings than Cambridge, who are 22nd.