Northampton 0-4 Wolves
Last updated on .From the section Football
Wolves eased through to the third round of the Carling Cup with a comfortable victory at League Two Northampton.
Despite making 11 changes to their side from the weekend, the Premier League side were the more fluent and took the lead through Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.
Nenad Milijas put the visitors firmly in control when he fired in a superb free-kick before half time.
Ebanks-Blake headed his second with 13 minutes to go and Sam Vokes added a fourth late on for dominant Wanderers.
Mick McCarthy's decision to overhaul his side was a potentially risky decision considering Northampton's form in the Carling Cup, which saw them knock out Liverpool at Anfield last season and see off Championship side Ipswich in the first round this campaign.
However, it was entirely vindicated as Wanderers strolled into round three courtesy of a commanding display.
Home striker Adebayo Akinfenwa was made to rue a miss from three yards out with the score at 0-0 when Ebanks-Blake, who had earlier missed a good chance himself, chested down debutant Jamie Reckord's cross and lashed home.
With eight minutes of the first half remaining it was 2-0 courtesy of Milijas, who curled a free-kick into the top corner from 25 yards.
To Northampton's credit they looked to attack, but lacked their Premier League opponents quality in the final third.
Lewis Young, the younger brother of Manchester United and England winger Ashley, showed glimpses of his potential but saw a close-range effort saved by visitors keeper Dorus De Vries before teeing up Byron Webster only for the defender to lash his shot over the bar.
The visitors ruthlessness was illustrated in the 77th minute when Kightly raced to the byline and crossed for Ebanks-Blake to plant a simple header past Walker and into the net.
Vokes rubbed salt into the Cobblers wounds with a minute to go when he smashed Matt Doherty's cross first time into the top corner.
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Gary Johnson told BBC Radio Northampton:
"I said to the boys they didn't deserve a scoreline like that.
"But we've got to be careful. We don't want to be nearly men who keep saying we played well but lost again.
"I think they showed their Premiership athleticism at the end while our lads looked a bit leggy."
