Gavin Cowan: Shrewsbury are a team coming together after Northampton win

Shrewsbury boss Gavin Cowan hailed his players after their 2-0 victory over Northampton.

The hosts got themselves back to winning ways after back-to-back defeats thanks to first-half goals from Kian McMahon-Brown and Kevin Berkoe.

Cowan said: “I’m really pleased. It’s brilliant to get three points.

“We need to block out the outside noise because people get emotional about results. I understand that because they’re of the utmost importance. But you saw from the lads there they were dominant in both boxes. That was the difference.

“It was not too dissimilar from other weeks, but we got the early goal and that’s the difference.

“I’m not surprised at all, I’ve seen it coming. I know the staff and the players, we’ve blocked out the outside world and stayed professional.

“It’s a team coming together now, a young squad that is beginning to gel, and we need to back that up in the next few weeks.

“My teams notoriously start late. It’s a process, it takes time. We know what we’re doing. This result is credit to the staff and the players.”

It was Burnley loanee McMahon-Brown’s first senior goal and he was a constant threat throughout the contest.

Cowan added: “Kian’s got lots of ability. We’ve worked hard to get him in the building. He’s the type of player I wanted in the building.

“We’re lucky we’ve been helped out by Burnley to get him, but he’s got a bright future. It’s only the beginning for him.

“He needs to keep his feet on the ground and kick on from here.”

Cobblers boss Chris Hogg cut a frustrated figure and apologised to the club’s fan base after their latest defeat.

“It was disappointing to say the least,” said Hogg. “It was categorically nowhere near the level that I expect of us as a team and as a football club. It’s highly disappointing.

“We’ll take loads from it but it hurts and it’s going to hurt. The players are hurting in the dressing room and I can only thank the fans for coming and I want them to know that I’m very aware that it wasn’t good enough.

“I don’t think there was any part of the performance that pleased me, which is quite rare after a game of football, but Shrewsbury were the better team and they deserved to win.

“They won duels, they got on the front foot, they competed and they scored two goals.

“I apologise for the performance and we’re going to have to rectify it this week, work even harder and then go and attack next Saturday.”