Three wins from three in the league and cup suggest Northampton Town may finally be ready to mount another promotion challenge after reaching the 2013 League Two Play-Off Final under Aidy Boothroyd.

Comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Bradford City at Wembley, the Cobblers started the 2013/14 campaign sluggishly and Boothroyd paid with his job with the side bottom of League Two in December of that year.

Current boss Chris Wilder was tempted to Sixfields despite being in charge of an Oxford United side themselves looking for promotion.

The appointment has proved shrewd with the former Halifax Town and Alfreton Town manager guiding the Cobblers to a 12th-place finish last year after helping the club avoid the drop in his first four months after succeeding Boothroyd.

A 1-0 opening-day win at newly-promoted Bristol Rovers was followed by a 3-0 victory against League One side Blackpool in the first round of the League Cup before Saturday’s 3-0 win over Exeter City.

With a second win and clean sheet recorded on Saturday you might have thought Wilder would have been satisfied with his side’s efforts. But the 47-year-old former Rotherham United full-back was less-than-impressed with his side’s display against the Grecians.

He told the Northampton Chronicle & Echo: “I didn’t think it was impressive at all. The difference was down to the two boxes - they had just as much play as us.

“We scored three cracking goals but they’ve not had the bounce of the ball and my goalkeeper has done extremely well.

“I’m not going to gloss over it - I didn’t think we were very good.

“When you play as well as we did on Tuesday, you’re only going to that half a dozen or so times and we’re always striving to reach those standards but that doesn’t come around every game, but I thought we were well off it today.”

Jason Taylor put the Cobblers ahead after 25 minutes before Ryan Cresswell nodded home a second prior to the break. Skipper Marc Richards then wrapped up the win late on with his first of the season.

The 33-year-old striker only joined the Cobblers last summer but after hitting 18 goals in his first season at Sixfields has established himself as a key component in the side.

This is Richards’ second spell with Northampton after netting 11 league goals in 37 starts between 2003 and 2005. A move to Barnsley followed before the spell which established him as a reliable Football League goalscorer at Port Vale.

A return of 67 goals in 162 starts for the Valiants persuaded Chesterfield to take advantage of the club’s financial situation and bring the Wolverhampton-born striker to the Proact Stadium in 2012 and Richards added 20 strikes in 51 league starts to his record.

Richards might have left Vale sooner than he eventually did after a £100,000 offer from Cheltenham Town in 2008 which met the release clause in his contract.

He stayed loyal, though, and became the first Valiant since Martin Foyle - the man who originally signed him - to score 20 goals in consecutive seasons when he achieved the feat between 2009 and 2011.

A striker who will need no introduction to Barnet supporters is Sam Hoskins. Signed this summer following his release by Yeovil Town, the diminutive forward struck twice last season for the Bees during a six-game loan stay.

Hoskins, 22, marked his first start for the Cobblers with a goal in the League Cup victory over hapless Blackpool but will find himself behind Richards in the pecking order at Sixfields this term.

Another former Bee in the Northampton ranks is Ricky Holmes. The creative midfielder made 104 appearances in all competitions for Barnet between 2010 and 2013, scoring 17 times. He has since spent time with Portsmouth before switching to the Cobblers in January.

Northampton were Barnet’s last opponents in the Football League before their return this season. The Cobblers won 2-0 at Sixfields on the final day of the 2012/13 campaign to condemn Edgar Davids’ men to the Conference.

Goals from Roy O’Donovan and Luke Guttridge sent the Bees down and five members of the side that day - Graham Stack, Andy Yiadom, Elliott Johnson, Luke Gambin and Curtis Weston - remain at Barnet.

The Bees’ record against Northampton has seen them claim 13 wins to six with the most recent 4-0 at Underhill in Davids’ first match after joining the club. Krystian Pearce, Yiadom, Anthony Edgar and John Oster were all on-target in a resounding 4-0 win.

Northampton Town XI v Exeter City (15.8.15): Smith; Lelan, Diamond, Cresswell, Buchanan; Potter, Taylor, Byrom, Adams; D’Ath; Richards.