Etete tipped for a bright future by impressed team-mates

Teenage striker Kion Etete is impressing just about everyone at the Cobblers.

The 19-year-old, on a season-long loan from Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, was playing well even before scoring twice in two games last week, his first ever league goals, and it had not gone unnoticed.

Leading the line for Town, his physicality and running power at the top end of the pitch has proved too much for some experienced defenders to handle. All he lacked were goals.

Etete was trailing to the likes of defenders Fraser Horsfall and Guthrie in the scoring charts up until very recently, but goals against both Stevenage and Tranmere have taken him alongside Sam Hoskins as Town's leading marksmen.

Guthrie said: “Us defenders have chipped in with a few goals this season – Kion wasn’t happy about that!

"We enjoyed giving him a bit of stick but even when he wasn't scoring, you could still see that he was causing a lot of problems for defenders.

"There was a lot of talk about Tranmere's defence and how few goals they had conceded going into that game but I think Kion caused them so many problems even without his goal.

"He does so much work for us at the top of the pitch and all the lads are buzzing for him to get a few goals because he deserves it and I'm sure he'll kick on, especially after the finish on Saturday."

Hoskins also has four goals in all competitions but will miss this weekend's game due to suspension, opening the door for Etete to move ahead of him.

"Kion's performances speak for themselves at the moment," said Hoskins whilst standing next to Etete after Saturday's game. "Even when he wasn't scoring like he has been in the last few games, he's always put 110 per cent into the game for the team.

"You can't fault him anything he's doing at the minute and once the first league goal comes, he's shown that it can open the floodgates and another one follows.

"I don't want to big him up too much but for his age he's obviously very good and he's got a big future ahead of him, but for now let's hope he continues to perform for us and help us have a successful season.

"It shows his maturity because he's only 19 but the way he played (on Saturday) showed how mature he is already. (Peter) Clarke has got a lot of experience, as have a lot of the Tranmere players, but as a team we dealt with it well."

Meanwhile, manager Jon Brady added: "It was great to see him get another goal and I think his finish shows that he's learning because it was very similar to the chance he had against Mansfield.

"This time he kept it down and that was really good to see. It was a good ball in by Mitch but to play like he did, against an experienced player, shows that he's progressing and learning and that's important."