Northampton's Hoskins to have knee surgery

Sam Hoskins has scored 97 goals in his Northampton career

Northampton Town striker Sam Hoskins will miss their final two games of the season to have a knee operation.

The 32-year-old, who has been with the club for 10 years and whose contract runs until the end of next season, has scored nine goals in 37 appearances this campaign.

The Cobblers guaranteed their League One status for a third successive season with Monday's 4-1 home win over Shrewsbury Town.

"Sam's going to go under the knife so we can get him ready for pre-season - we're not going to risk him any more," manager Kevin Nolan told BBC Radio Northampton.

"He's been terrific and you can see the adulation of the fans to him, and what he's done for this club, but we made that decision last week. I was sad because he didn't get to have that moment on [the pitch on] Monday.

"He was a part of it because he was in and around the lads and the dressing room, but knowing Sam he would have been a bit gutted he wasn't on the pitch and creating and having chances to score."

Nolan expects defender Jack Baldwin to be involved in Saturday's game at Crawley Town (15:00 BST) but he is also facing surgery in the near future.

"He's got a problem with his knee which we need to sort out as well, so he'll probably go under the knife next week," said Nolan.

Having made certain of staying up, the Cobblers boss wants his team to use the final games to make a positive statement before the 2025-26 season.

"It's going to be a fantastic occasion because Crawley are fighting for their lives to retain their League One status," Nolan said.

"I've told our lads we've got to be ruthless and we're not done now - we want to finish with as many points as possible. There's six available and that can get us to 56 and that's the aim now."