Brady reveals Cobblers have hit their target after victory over Port Vale

Cobblers boss Jon Brady revealed his side have now hit the target they set themselves at the start of the season following Easter Monday’s 2-0 victory over Port Vale.

Town are now up to 56 points, their highest return at this level since 2007/08, after Mitch Pinnock’s excellent first half finish and a stoppage-time second from Shaun McWilliams sunk the relegation-battling Valiants.

"I'm pleased with the result and it took a lot of hard work from the boys against a team who are fighting for their lives and have won their last two," said Brady. "To score two goals against them was really pleasing and now I can say that we have hit the target we set for ourselves at the start of the season, which is really pleasing.

"The target was 54 points and there were various reasons behind that – the last time the club stayed up they got 53 points – so to eclipse that with four games to spare is a fantastic effort and it's testament to the staff and the players.

"We've worked so hard all season and I was delighted with how the boys performed today. We stayed in our shape well, we got on second balls and we broke on them and that was important. I thought the plan worked well and we did enough to win the game.”