SIMON Cox insists he would be nowhere near the top of the League One scoring charts without the impact of strike partner Billy Paynter alongside him.

While Cox grabbed all the plaudits for this third hat-trick of a prolific campaign at Northampton on Tuesday night, Paynter capped an immense display with his 12th goal of the season and two assists.

The former Port Vale front man polarises opinion among Town fans, but his performances over the past month have proved he can be a massive threat to any defence.

And Cox paid tribute to Paynter, insisting his 27-goal haul would be substantially less without the Scouser around.

“Billy is superb for me,” revealed Cox. “He’s a tall bloke who wins a lot of headers and that leaves me with a lot of space in behind.

“He’s set most of my goals up and then the rest have been penalties, so that’s the way we’ve been. We’ve had that understanding since I came on loan and he signed permanently.

“Billy’s been superb this season and without him I don’t think I would have scored as many goals as I have.

“We know where each other are and set each other up. We don’t care who scores as long as they keep going in.

“We’ve had a bit of time playing together, we benefit from playing week in, week out and we are only going to get better.”

Cox’s goals at the Sixfields Stadium not only helped Town to their third successive win but also silenced a home crowd still angry with the 21-year-old for rejecting them in favour of Wiltshire.

“The fans are allowed to have their opinion,” said Cox, whose early touches were greeted with constant boos.

“But Billy had a little word with me and told me that the best way to keep them quiet was to go and score.

“I got one and was happy because it was me set off again.

“It doesn’t matter to me about the fans - they can do what they like. I’m out on the pitch and can only control what I can control.”