Hoskins: It's up to me to prove to the manager that I deserve to start

The 33-year-old has been a regular starter for most of his 11 years at Sixfields but not so much this season, with Saturday just his third league start of the campaign.

However, he played his part in a strong team performance, the highlight of which came early in the second half when Hoskins smartly flicked in Owen Dale’s cross to double the home side’s lead.

"I'll do whatever I can to help the team, whether I'm picked or not,” said Hoskins. “I've had a slightly different role to start the season compared to previously and I've not played as much as I have in the past.

"But it's about me getting myself ready to play and contribute when I am called upon. I'm used to starting every game week in, week out but now it's down to me to prove to the manager that I should be in the team and I can do that by helping the team win.”

Hoskins was on target with a clever finish within five minutes of the restart, neatly converting Dale’s low cross for his 105th Cobblers goal and first of the new season. He’s now scored for the club in each of the last 12 campaigns.

"I like to think that's what I'm in the team to do,” he added. “We created a lot of chances and it was just about taking them and we took them at key points in the game. We had chances to put the game to bed but we defended really well and to get a clean sheet is important.

"The recent performances have certainly improved and I think we've been unlucky not to pick up more points. We created enough to win on Tuesday night, Tranmere probably only had one shot on target, but that's what happens when you don't take your chances.

"But the good thing about football is that there's always another game and credit to the lads, I thought we were bang on it from the first whistle and it was a great win.

”It's been a good week and it's great to round it off with a win.”