Sam Hoskins fired in a late winner as Northampton gave Kevin Nolan a first win as Cobblers boss with a 1-0 win at Burton Albion.

The experienced forward got a huge slice of luck when his shot from the edge of the box took a wicked deflection to wrongfoot keeper Max Crocombe and land in the back of the net with four minutes to go.

It was cruel on a Burton side who had dominated the second half in search of a much-needed win

In a rare first-half chance Cobblers forced Crocombe into a good save when Hoskins managed to wriggle into space to get a shot away with the big Kiwi keeper getting a strong hand to the shot and keep it out.

Albion looked more threatening in the second half and fellow New Zealand keeper Nik Tzanev had to make good saves to deny both Jack Armer and Rumarn Burrell as Burton pressed.

Burrell went closer still with a rising shot that clipped the bar after good link-up play with substitute Mason Bennett before Hoskins struck inside the final five minutes.