Hoskins had no hesitation in sticking away another penalty for Cobblers

Sam Hoskins had no hesitation in stepping up to the spot and sticking away Cobblers' second-half penalty against Tranmere Rovers.

Hoskins has an excellent record from 12 yards for Northampton but missed a crucial spot-kick against AFC Wimbledon last season.

But he remains first-choice penalty taker and showed why when drilling into the bottom left-hand corner to double Town's lead at Prenton Park.

“It’s probably my favoured side to be honest,” Hoskins said. “I’ve put a few there now.

“I had been practising there all week so I didn’t want to change my mind at the last minute and even though the goalkeeper went the right way, I hit it hard enough and put it enough in the corner to beat him.

“That gave us a bit of breathing space. I felt in the first-half we had a lot of chances but we couldn’t put one away and at half-time we spoke about how not a lot needed to change.

“We kept plugging away and I felt once we got the first goal, we were well on top and we probably should have won by more goals at the end of the day, but it’s still a great win.”

Hoskins took more shots on his own - six - than every Tranmere player combined as Cobblers dominated.

He added: “I’m on a good run at the moment and it’s always good to help the team by scoring goals.

“But I thought the performance of everyone was really good and definitely warranted the three points.

“Even in the first-half, we didn’t do a lot wrong. We had more clear-cut chances but it was about keeping a clean sheet and continue creating those chances and hoping one of them would go in.

“It’s definitely a good feeling and there’s a feelgood factor around the place but we can’t get ahead of ourselves.

“We will enjoy this win but then make sure we have a strong week of training ahead of the next game because we need to keep doing what we’re doing and continue playing like that.”

Hoskins, who will miss Saturday's game against Carlisle due to suspension, has three goals in his last four games.

“I have spoken about it a lot before,” he added. “I enjoy playing wherever but to have that consistency and the same role in the team every game, it does help because I know my job week in, week out.

“It’s nice to score in any system and any position and it always feels good to help the team win.”

And Hoskins also believes the Cobblers, now third in League Two, can still get better.

He continued: “We’ve got to enjoy the wins but it’s a long season and we can’t relax and think we are where we want to be because we want to get even better.

“I feel we can climb even higher up if we can continue to back up performances.

“We started the season really well and then hit a bit of a rut but we’ve picked up again and I think we deserve to be in the top three, but we’re aiming for top spot.”