Edinburgh hoping Cobblers can keep midfielder O'Toole for 'seasons to come'

The 12-goal midfielder was Town's match winner in Saturday's crucial 2-1 victory over Charlton Athletic, drilling home from 16 yards to secure the win that has lifted the Cobblers up to 15th and seven points clear of the Sky Bet League One relegation zone.

O'Toole has now scored seven goals in the past seven Town games, and matched his goal tally from the Cobblers' league two title-winning campaign with 10 games still to play.

The 28-year-old, who has been in brilliant form since Edinburgh took over as boss from Rob Page, is out of contract at the end of the current campaign, three years after he signed from Bristol Rovers.

Edinburgh has already stated his intention to be 'pro-active' and get the futures of the club's out-of-contract players sorted as quickly as he can, and near the top of the list will surely be getting O'Toole to extend his Sixfields stay.

"I am delighted with him, and the really pleasing thing for me since working with John-Joe is just his all-round play," said the Cobblers boss.

"In the midfield, along with Matty Taylor, he really controlled the game, and I think he is getting stronger with every game as the season goes on.

"I am sure he is really enjoying his time here, and hopefully we can make sure we can keep him here for a few further seasons to come."

The Cobblers boss was in an upbeat mood following the win over Karl Robinson's side, and admitted it was crucial his team got quickly back on track after their defeat against Oldham in midweek.

Edinburgh admitted the loss to the Latics had hit everybody at the club hard, but he was delighted with the response.

"For all of our good work prior to Tuesday's defeat, we realise that if you don't get to the standards that you are used to, then that is what can happen," said the Town manager.

"For all of the steps we had made forward, I think being at home, losing to Oldham, it really did have a negative effect on the players, on the crowd, and on ourselves.

"But we have regrouped, and credit to the players because they have delivered in a big pressure game.

"We were below par on Tuesday compared to the level we have been at and what we expect of ourselves, but we got back to that intensity and competitiveness on Saturday.

"I think we were well worthy of the points. We didn't have a lot of other chances, but we really restricted them to very little on the day.

"It was a really positive performance, and a great result."