Sam Hoskins was the matchwinner as Northampton beat bottom side Burton Albion 1-0 at the Pirelli Stadium.

A late deflected strike by Hoskins won the match for the Cobblers at League One’s bottom club, who’d missed multiple chances before the crucial goal.

The three points were the Cobblers’ first under the charge of recently appointed boss Kevin Nolan, with the side now unbeaten in three games after drawing their previous two assignments.

Northampton also now have a six point gap to the relegation zone below and have risen a place to 18th in the League One table.

For the trip to the Brewers, there was a new face in the Cobblers’ starting line-up as Liam Shaw made his debut the day after signing up from Fleetwood.

In an early kick-off for a game chosen by Sky Sports for live TV broadcast, both sides had early opportunities as Hoskins snatched a strike from inside the box before the home side’s Nick Akoto drilled a strike across goal that went out the other side of the box.

Few chances were coming for either side in a scrappy first half, but a great chance came for the visitors just after the half-hour mark when Hoskins received Tom Eaves’ flick and saw a strike denied by Max Crocombe in the Burton goal.

Hoskins would later see a further strike blocked, with Shaw wafting the rebound into the stands.

Burton had struggled for chances before the break but missed one just after it, as substitute Billy Bodin saw a wayward shot end up picking out Dylan Williams, who just headed wide.

Nik Tzanev made a stop to deny Burton’s Jack Armer, with his Brewers’ team mate Rumarn Burrell seeing an effort a few moments later also denied by Tzanev.

The home side continued to cause Northampton problems, with Burrell seeing a shot hit the crossbar before Bodin did beat Tzanev only for his goal to be ruled out for offside.

With 4 minutes of the 90 remaining, however, Northampton would break the deadlock. Mitch Pinnock’s ball found Hoskins, who lashed in a shot that struck Armer and wrong-footed Crocombe to find the back of the net. The goal saw Hoskins mark his 400th Northampton appearance with the goal.

Burton struggled to create opportunities as the game moved into 4 minutes of stoppage time, as the Cobblers picked up a first away win since beating Huddersfield in September.

Northampton will be seeking to continue their unbeaten streak next time out, when they welcome Barnsley to Sixfields next Saturday.

Northampton Town have announced the signing of midfielder Liam Shaw from Fleetwood Town.

The 23-year-old has joined the Cobblers for an undisclosed fee and signed a two-and-a-half year contract with the League One club.

The move makes Shaw Northampton’s first signing of the newly opened January transfer window and their first under new manager Kevin Nolan.

Shaw had begun his career with Sheffield Wednesday, making 24 competitive appearances for the Owls before joining Celtic in 2021. However, Shaw struggled for game time with the Scottish giants, making just two first team appearances for the Glasgow-based club spending time out on loan with Motherwell, Morecambe and Wigan Athletic.

The midfielder joined Fleetwood at the start of the current season, making 14 appearances for the Cod Army before the deal to bring him to Sixfields.

Nolan voiced his delight to the official Northampton Town website that Shaw was a player he was pleased to bring to the club.

He said, “Liam was one of our top targets and we are delighted to welcome him to the club.

“He was on the radar of the recruitment team here already and that aligned with my own thoughts as he is a player I have always regarded very highly. 

“He is someone who I think can come in and make us better. He is a box to box midfielder, he likes to get involved and he is good on the ball too. He has all the qualities you look for in a good central midfielder and on top of that he comes with a good pedigree and is a good age.

“I would like to thank the Board of Directors and everyone involved for allowing us to move quickly to get this deal done, and I am really pleased to welcome Liam to the club.”

MK Dons were beaten 1-0 at home by Salford City, with their former boss Karl Robinson picking up a second win of the season against the Dons.

Hakeeb Adelakun scored the only goal, with a strike that he flicked home just after the half-hour mark to win the game for the in-form visitors.

While victory saw Salford make it 6 wins in a row, all without conceding, MK Dons’ inconsistent form continued. The team are now on a run of one win in six matches, with Scott Lindsey’s side 12th in the League Two table and five points off the play-offs, though with at least one game in hand on several teams above them.

Having returned to winning ways after four without success in their trip to Chesterfield on New Year’s Day, the Dons’ first assignment of 2025 saw them welcome Salford, who had won their previous five games with a clean sheet in each game.

The in-form visitors gave MK Dons early notice of their intent, with Adelakun squaring for Cole Stockton to narrowly head the ball wide of the target.

An open contest saw MK Dons be next to try their luck, with Liam Kelly advancing before firing a strike that just missed the target.

Salford keeper Matt Young then made a stop to deny the Dons’ former Salford striker Callum Hendry, while at the other end, Tom McGill made the save to deny Stockton.

Hendry would see a strike blocked before Ellis Harrison headed wide when well placed, before a great chance for the hosts saw Joe Tomlinson’s header hit the side netting from Alex Gilbey’s cross.

Salford had a period of creating chances after that, with Adelakun and Stockton seeing strikes narrowly miss the target, while Harrison saw an effort after a decent run fired straight at Young.

But with 34 minutes on the clock, Salford opened the deadlock. Liam Shephard’s deflected cross seemed to fall in line for McGill to claim, but Adelakun got there first and a subtle touch from the Salford attacker was enough to divert the ball into the back of the net.

Curtis Tilt could’ve added to the Dons’ misery in first half stoppage time, as the visitor’s captain charged forward before hitting a long range shot that McGill held at the second attempt.

Ryan Watson walloped a shot off target against his former club after the break, before Hendry lashed his own first-time strike from outside the box off target.

The Dons created their best chance in the aftermath of falling behind in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. Set-up work by Aaron Nemane and Kelly teed up Gilbey, who had a snapshot held by Young.

Tilt would see a strike from outside the box hit the post for the visitors, while at the other end, Young held two efforts by the Dons’ Joe White.

Salford missed two fine chances for a second as Kevin Berkoe and Tyrese Fornah lashed off target when well placed. In-between these two opportunities, MK Dons got close as Hendry’s flick-on at a corner failed to beat Young.

But despite six minutes of added time being played, MK Dons ran out of time as they slipped to defeat at home, and giving Lindsey plenty to ponder ahead of a trip to face his predecessor Mike Williamson and his Carlisle United side next weekend.

MK Dons: McGill – Offord, Lawrence, Sherring – Nemane (Ilunga 69), White, Kelly (Hogan 69), Tomlinson – Hendry, Harrison, Kelly

Subs not used: MacGillivray, Williams, Carroll, Tripp, Waller

Salford: Young – Shephard, Tilt, Garbutt – Mnoga (Taylor 83), Watson (Lund 75), Ashley, Fornah, Berkoe (Negru 83) – Adelakun (McAleny 90+4), Stockton (Kouassi 83)

Subs not used: Jones, Edwards

Booked: Ashley, Tilt, Watson

Sonny Finch has left MK Dons after the teenager’s season long loan at Stadium MK was ended by parent club Middlesbrough.

The 19-year-old had joined the Dons on a season long loan on transfer deadline day in August, as part of a triple move that also saw the club sign Joe White and Kane Thompson-Sommers.

But Finch has found game time hard to come by with the League 2 side. In all, Finch made just seven appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring once in a 5-1 win in League Two at Harrogate in October.

Finch hadn’t featured for the Dons since playing 64 minutes in an EFL Trophy match against the Arsenal under-21s in October, with his last league appearance having been as a substitute against Tranmere the preceding weekend.

Middlesbrough announced the decision on the same day that they recalled defender Terrell Agyemang, who the Championship club had sent out on loan to Scottish Championship side Airdrieonians.