Northampton Town made it back-to-back victories after a 1-0 win over Leyton Orient in East London.

Sam Hoskins scored his first goal of the season to win the match for the Cobblers, who beat Leyton Orient at their ground for the second season in a row.

Victory means that Kevin Nolan’s side have picked up 7 points from their first 6 games of the new season, though the win sees them build on last week’s maiden success when they beat Exeter.

Northampton began brightly, with last weekend’s scorers Ethan Wheatley and Max Dyche thwarted with early opportunities before a mad scramble in the home side’s box at a corner ended up in a foul being given against Northampton when it looked like they had done just enough to force the ball over the line.

The home side did maintain a threat, however, with Leyton’s Diallang Jaiyesimi denied by Northampton keeper Lee Burge.

After that initial flurry, however, the game became less of a quality spectacle, with Northampton looking likelier to do something positive without creating a multitude of opportunities.

This pattern continued in the second half until Northampton landed a breakthrough a few moments before the hour mark. The visitors worked the ball out to Tyrese Fornah on the left flank, and his cross picked out Hoskins to run onto it and finish.

Leyton Orient had their best attacking moments in the final stages as they sought an equaliser, with Burge making stops to thwart Demetri Mitchell, Aaron Connolly and Josh Koroma.

But it was ultimately a successful defensive display by the Cobblers, who were able to close out the match and take their first away points of the new season.

Northampton now have a two week break from action after their match at Reading next weekend was postponed due to international call-ups. The Cobblers are next in action on September 13, when they welcome Blackpool to Sixfields.

MK Dons have announced the signing of defender Kane Wilson, who joins the League 2 club from Derby County.

The 25-year-old full-back is the Dons’ 10th new signing of the summer transfer window, with MK Dons confirming the deal the day before today’s (01/09) transfer deadline.

Wilson’s move sees him reunite with his former Derby boss Paul Warne, who took over at MK Dons in April. He is the second player to move from Derby to Milton Keynes this summer, following Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s transfer from Pride Park to Stadium MK earlier in this transfer window.

He has joined MK Dons for an undisclosed fee, with the contract length also being undisclosed.

Wilson had been signed by Warne to Derby in 2023 from Bristol City, with the defender making 85 competitive appearances for the Rams, scoring 5 times. He was also part of the Derby side that won automatic promotion from League One in the 2023/24 season.

In his career, Wilson had broke through the academy at West Brom, where he was a contemporary of fellow Dons player Jonathan Leko, while he has also played for Exeter, Walsall and Tranmere in loan spells and a 2 year stay with Forest Green Rovers.

In an interview with the MK Dons website, Wilson said he was delighted with the opportunity to work again with Warne.

He said, “He’s one of a kind, really! He makes me laugh! When we spoke on the phone, he was so positive about the club; it was one of those things that was just right for me and my family. I just really wanted to be involved!”

Talking about himself, he also said, “Some of my best attributes are going forward, which the gaffer loves! I just try and excite the fans, to be honest. I love running at players, dribbling, and if I can contribute to clean sheets and creating chances, then hopefully I’ll have a good rapport with the fans!”

Warne said he was delighted to bring his former player to the club.

He said, “I’ve worked with Kane before, and he’s been amazing for me in both League One and the Championship!

“He’s a great player and a brilliant character as well, which is so important for the dressing room.

“He wants to win, and entertain, he’s a full-back that bombs on and wants to take players on all the time. He’s just really infectious, I think he’ll go down a storm!

“He would have played a part in the Championship this year, so for him to back what we want to do at MK Dons is massive.”

Luton Town bounced back to winning ways as they won 3-0 away at Burton Albion.

Lasse Nordas, Millenic Alli and Zack Nelson did the honours for Matt Bloomfield’s side, who bounced back from defeat at home to Cardiff in their last assignment by taking the points on their trip to the Pirelli Stadium.

The result sees Luton end August with 12 points from their first 6 games as they seek to bounce back to the Championship at the first attempt following last season’s relegation.

Luton settled quicker and they would take the lead in the 18 minute. Nelson’s pass released Nordas, who was able to get space for a shot that duly beat Burton keeper Jordan Amissah via a deflection. The goal was the Norwegian striker’s first since joining Luton in January.

The Hatters continued to create chances, with Jerry Yates side-footing wide before Nelson saw a crisp strike cannon off the post.

In the final minute of regular time at the end of the first half, Luton duly grabbed their second. Amissah had saved an initial attempt by Nelson, but the ball fell kindly for Alli to drill in a first-time strike that found the bottom corner.

Jake Beesley curled a strike just off target in what was Burton’s best opportunity for a response during the second half.

But the away side would duly find a third goal just before the hour mark. Nordas made a driving run into the box before playing in Nelson, who drilled a shot home to grab his first goal in senior football.

Luton keeper Josh Keeley would make stops to stop Tyrese Shade and Julian Larsson from grabbing a consolation, but the Hatters were able to get the job done and collect victory on their travels.

The Hatters are next in action in Tuesday when they play an EFL Trophy game at home to Barnet, but they now have a two week break from league action before playing Plymouth on September 13.

Paul Warne reflected that MK Dons came up short against Walsall via a combination of a poor first half and bad luck going forward.

The Dons’ boss spoke after Charlie Lakin’s deflected strike won Walsall the game at Stadium MK, with the result seeing Warne lose a league game as MK Dons boss for the first time.

Speaking to the media afterwards, Warne said he felt the team improved in the second half after the first 45, but felt it ended up being one of those days where the Dons just couldn’t score.

He said, “I think my opinion is probably the same as everyone who was in the stadium. I thought first half, we were poor and weren’t really at the races. I don’t think we started well while they started excellent. We didn’t respond to that really and didn’t have much control in the first half, although Craig only made one save.

“We grew into it a little bit then at half-time, we tried to change it a little bit and get our wide players to stay high and wide, and apart from conceding that chance, I really liked it. I know its not a brilliant thing to say when you’ve lost the game but I really liked how we played. We put lots of crosses in. But I didn’t like that the fact we couldn’t finish any of them. It felt like one of those days where we could be out there forever and just wouldn’t score.”

He further said, “Disappointed with the first half, loved the second, but sometimes its easier to play when you’re behind. We need to play fearlessly like that from the outset.

“We’ll have a good week this week to build up for Grimsby, but disappointed. I thought we’d done enough to at least get a point, but sometimes you don’t.”

The winning goal for Walsall came moments after Callum Paterson missed a chance to make it 1-0 to MK Dons with their first major opportunity, in a move that Warne said was reflective of the game as a whole.

He said, “It probably sums us up today that you didn’t get the luck to win football games. We weren’t as clean as we should be at the top of the pitch and a little unlucky at the back of the pitch. After that, for the next 40 minutes, I was pleased with what the lads tried to do.”

Having suffered the first League Two defeat of the new campaign, Warne added that the next thing to focus on will be the way the team recalibrates to move on from the disappointment.

He said, “Weirdly our best chances didn’t hit the target, which sounds a bit surreal. But I don’t presume under any circumstances we’re going to have a season without defeats or bad performances. If we’d lost to one of the teams in the top 6 playing the way we did when I know we can be better, it’s not the worst, but I also feel by losing the game, it focuses everyone’s mind a little bit, and we can build for another tough game next week.”

The game was the Dons’ last before transfer deadline day, which happens today (01/09). Warne spoke before MK Dons confirmed the signing of Kane Wilson, who was confirmed as a new signing by the club yesterday, but said he was expecting a busy day.

He said, “I expect to get one or two in, as every manager will say up and down the country, and possibly lose one or two. If we didn’t do any more business, I know I’ve got more than enough in the dressing room to be competitive and have a right go, but with everyone, you keep improving. Today is a proving point that we can’t sit on our laurels and collectively haven’t got everything sussed yet. If we can improve, we’ll try to.

“This window seems to have gone on forever. Started in May, now virtually September, but all the fun is in the last 24-48 hours. I will definitely get offered players I would’ve took in a heartbeat.”