Jon Brady salutes a job well done by Cobblers after routine Crawley win

Sitting near the bottom of the table, both teams were in need of victory but there only ever looked to be one winner once Tariqe Fosu had lashed Northampton into a 16th-minute lead, even more so after Jay Williams’ own goal doubled the advantage.

Mitch Pinnock’s well-taken third early in the second half sent Crawley packing and made it seven points from nine for the week for Cobblers, an impressive turnaround following their struggles against Wrexham and Bolton.

"I’m really pleased with today and it’s been a good week to pick up seven points from the three games,” said Brady. “We needed to reset after losing against Wrexham and the players have responded really well.

"I thought we were good out of possession and reduced them to very few chances, I think they had two shots on target and one of those was from distance. That was positive and our shape was strong.

"We worked on set-pieces on Friday and it was brilliant from Tariqe to execute the first goal and give us a head start and I think it was important to score that first goal early because it breathes confidence through the group.

"The way we have played in our shape, in and out of possession, has given the players more belief. The fixtures are coming thick and fast but we’re in good rhythm and I’m really happy with the players and how they have performed in the three games this week.”