Hot-shot Hoskins claims League Two player of the month award for August

The long-serving player has enjoyed a superb start to the new campaign, kicking things off with two goals on the opening day of the season, the 3-2 win over Colchester United.

He carried that form into in August when he netted five of the Cobblers' eight league two goals - all of them claiming crucial points away from Sixfields.

Two of those came in the 3-2 win at Crawley Town, including a superb free-kick, and there were two more at Crewe Alexandra, where he also scored direct from a corner with the last kick of the game to secure a 2-2 draw.

His other August goal was in the 1-1 draw at Grimsby Town.

Cobblers boss Jon Brady said: “This award is a fantastic recognition of the quality and impact of Sam's performances.

"He is an important member of the squad both on and off the field. He is a senior player in the dressing room, he is a fantastic role model for the younger players to look up to and his performances have shown that he leads by example."

August also saw Hoskins make his 300th appearance for the Cobblers, having made his debut back in 2015.

"Sam is a wonderfully loyal servant to the club who is quickly making his way up both the club's all-time appearance makers and top goalscorers lists," added Brady.

"He fully deserves the accolades his performances are bringing him."

Hoskins said: “We have made a good start to the season as a team and personally I am very proud to pick up the award.

"While I am delighted with my goal tally so far, the team's fortunes are always the most important thing and we are pleased with how things have gone in the first month of the season.

"Our challenge is to try and continue that progress.

"Personally, I ended last season in decent form and that has carried over into this season which I am obviously very pleased about."

Sky Sports’ EFL pundit Don Goodman, who was on the judging panel, said: “It’s hard to ignore goals, and Sam Hoskins was right amongst them in August, bagging five of Northampton’s eight over the course of the month.

“The Cobblers are nestled nicely in the play-off spots at this early stage, and their number seven has been an absolutely key player, who they must keep fit.”

Hoskins scored his eighth goal of the season in the 3-1 win over Barrow at Sixfields on September 3.