Crooks: Macclesfield performance has set the standard for the season

Town were totally dominant as they claimed an emphatic win at Moss Rose, with Crooks netting a 20-minute treble and Daniel Powell also scoring in an incredible first half that saw Keith Curle’s men go in at the break 4-0 up.

The Cobblers continued to dictate play after the break, creating plenty more chances and adding a fifth goal late on through Aaron Pierre.

Crooks knows that things are not going to go as smoothly in terms of the result every game between now and the end of the season, but he says he does expect similar levels of performance, starting with this Saturday’s PTS Academy Stadium date with Oldham Athleitc.

“It’s only one game, there are 46 in a season and we’ve got to continue this now and see where it can take us,” said Crooks

“It’s a long season and there’ll be plenty of difficult games but that’s the standard that we’ve got to perform to now.”

As well as the glut of goals going in at one end, Crooks was also delighted to help his team keep Macclesfield out at the other end, and heaped praised on the defensive unit.

“The clean sheet was important,” said the former Accrington Stanley man.

“The back lads and Dai (David Cornell) were desperate for it.

“They put their bodies on the line at times to make sure they didn’t concede and fair play to them, they did a great job.”

The Cobblers were backed by a travelling support of 339 fans at Moss Rose, which was a superb turnout for a midweek trip to Cheshire, and Crooks says the players appreciated it.

The travelling support was rewarded with a stunning performance, and the 24-year-old says the players would love to turn it on for the Sixfields punters as well.

“The away fans were fantastic on Tuesday night and we showed them what we can do,” said Crooks. “Now we need to do that at home in front of the rest of the crowd there.”