Nolan: Return of 'clever' forward is 'fantastic news' for Cobblers

Vale, making just his fourth start of the season, and his second since returning from almost three months out with a hamstring injury, had a hand in two of the four goals as Town eased into the last eight of the competition.

"Valey's a really clever footballer,” said Nolan. “I was expecting him to hit the net when he went through on goal, it wasn't to be, but I was delighted with his work-rate and he led the line fantastically well.

"We were able to bounce off him, he led the press really well and he did the things that I expected him to do. He's getting up to speed and that's fantastic news for us and for the fans as well because he's a player we were delighted to get , but we knew it would take time for him to get up to speed.”

Kamarai Swyer also had a good night at Sixfields, adding another superb strike to his growing collection.

Nolan added: "We're pushing Kam Swyer and trying to get more minutes in his legs and I thought he was excellent. Most of his starts have come in the Trophy and he hasn't established himself as a regular starter in the league.

"But I've known Kam for a long, long time and this is what I expected from him because we were always going to slowly integrate him and I think he'll be a very good player for us, not only now but also in the future.”

Cobblers host Wycombe this weekend, with Nolan adding: "There's a good buzz around the place and what we need to do now is keep the results coming. We picked up two good draws against two good teams and now we need to go and do it again against Wycombe, but it’ll be no mean feat because Michael (Duff) has gone in there and done a really good job.”