Ryan's the man! Midfielder Watson is named your Cobblers' Player of the Year

Ryan Watson has won your vote to be named Chronicle & Echo Cobblers Supporters' Player of the Year for the 2020/21 season.

The midfielder, who ended the campaign as Northampton's top scorer with nine goals in all competitions, was a runaway winner of the top prize, receiving an impressive 42 per cent of the overall vote.

It was a close call between second, third and fourth as forward Sam Hoskins, who was just behind Watson in the scoring charts with eight goals, collected 18 per cent of the vote, narrowly ahead of defender Lloyd Jones (16 per cent) and midfielder Shaun McWilliams (15 per cent).

Peter Kioso, Fraser Horsfall and Joseph Mills also all received nominations for the award, but it was no surprise that Watson won by such an emphatic margin.

In his second season of his third spell at the club, the 27-year-old stepped up to League One with impressive ease and did as much as anyone to try and keep the Cobblers in the division, particularly under the guidance of Jon Brady during the second half of the campaign.

Brady pushed Watson into a more attacking role and the former Leicester man rewarded his manager with six goals in five games across February and March, including braces against Portsmouth and Plymouth.

Some of his goals were of the highest quality too, most notably his superb free-kick against Portsmouth, the first-time effort at home to Shrewsbury and his wonderful driving run and finish away to Milton Keynes Dons.

He was also a reliable and consistent performer in the team - Hoskins (44) and Horsfall (37) were the only outfield players to start more league games than Watson (32) this season.

Chronicle & Echo Northampton Town Supporters' Player of the Year 2020/21 result: 1) Ryan Watson, 42%; 2) Sam Hoskins, 18%; 3) Lloyd Jones, 16%; 4) Shaun McWilliams, 15%; 5) Peter Kioso, 8%.