'˜Special' homecoming for Latics ace Jacobs

But he’ll be doing everything he can to hammer another nail into the struggling Cobblers, and send Wigan Athletic a step closer to a return to the Championship.

Jacobs spent three years with the Cobblers before, at the age of 20, moving on to Derby and then Wolves, before joining Latics in the summer of 2015.

He’s already proved a thorn in the side of his former club, with a brilliant winning goal in the corresponding fixture back in September.

And he’d have no qualms about doing the same again – even if it pushed struggling Northampton nearer to the dreaded drop.

“Obviously the Northampton game is a special one 
for me,” he told the Wigan Post.

“I’ve still got a lot of family and friends down there, and hopefully they’ll all be there in the away end cheering us on.

“I’ve actually never been back to play at Northampton in the league since I left, so it’ll be nice to put that right.

“It’s a club that’s obviously still in my heart.

“They gave me my big chance to play league football, and build myself up from there.

“It was nice to score the winner in the corresponding fixture - and it’d be nice to get another, because I haven’t scored for a few games!

“Hopefully I can get another and we can start the new year in style with three points.”

Northampton proved tough nuts to crack at the 
DW before Jacobs rifled home from 30 yards for the only
 goal.

But they again proved their mettle in holding in-form Blackburn to a draw just before Christmas, and Jacobs is expecting a difficult game on his former stomping ground.

“It’s tough to see them struggling, because they have got a decent squad down there,” Jacobs added.

“They held Blackburn the other day, and it’s just taken Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 
a bit of time to get things sorted.

“Any game in this league is tough, especially coming at the end of the festive period, and we need to make sure we’re on it.”