As he approaches the first anniversary of his appointment as Cobblers boss, Chris Wilder is in an upbeat mood after shaking up his squad at the beginning of January with the reward of seven points out of a possible nine.
Town showed patience to break down a stubborn Dagenham & Redbridge side on Saturday afternoon, Ricky Holmes netting his first goal for the club following a loan move from Portsmouth.
Wilder said afterwards: "the players put a real shift in and everybody played their part," as Northampton made it five points between themselves and their opponents, occupying the final relegation place after their defeat.
Newport currently lie in the play-off places but were heavily beaten away to Cambridge United at the weekend, a defeat that manager Justin Edinburgh said was a 'wake-up call' for his side after a previous good run of form.