Northampton Town were beaten 3-1 by Bolton Wanderers on their trip to Lancashire.

The managerless hosts had taken an early lead through a goal by George Thomason, before the Cobblers bagged a quick equaliser through Liam Shaw.

Shaw would then however unfortunately slam home an own goal, before a late strike by Aaron Collins secured success for Bolton.

Defeat meant that Northampton remain in the spot immediately above the League One relegation zone, with victories for Burton Albion and Crawley meaning that Northampton are only three points clear of the two teams immediately behind.

The game saw a return for Cobblers boss Kevin Nolan to a club he represented as a player, having made 345 appearances in all competitions for the side from Lancashire that he spent nearly a decade representing.

Things got off to a bad start for Northampton, however, when they fell behind with three minutes on the clock. A slick passing move from a short corner saw the ball cycled back to Thomason, who drilled a low strike into the bottom corner.

Northampton would only trail for a few minutes, however, as Shaw was in the place to pick up a half-cleared Mitch Pinnock cross and drill a firm finish into the bottom corner.

Bolton had pressed to seek a second goal, with Victor Adeboyejo shooting just wide before Nik Tzanev made a fine stop to deny Thomason.

But the home side would take the lead again from an unfortunate method for Shaw. Northampton’s goalscorer was in the right place to meet Collins’ cross, only to inadvertently plant a strike into the back of the net.

While the Cobblers held their own in the second half, they weren’t able to find themselves a way through to equalise in the second half.

Tzanev made a narrow stop to deny Collins late on, but Collins would make sure for the hosts when he received Joel Randall’s pass on a counter and scored.

Northampton will be hoping for better results on Saturday, when they welcome Huddersfield Town to Sixfields.