Stevenage asked for the Sixfields fixture to be moved from Saturday 22 to a day later as they have an FA Cup replay at Maidstone on the Thursday before.
Manager Graham Westley claims the decision has motivated his squad for the game but Town are well within their rights to say no.
As the Cobblers have pointed out over 3,000 tickets have been sold with local schools and football clubs attending and Stevenage have been compensated for playing on a Thursday in the form of television broadcast fees.
It's hard for any club at League Two level to turn down £33,750 but the situation arises because the FA have allowed the television companies to dictate the timing of matches to an unreasonable degree.