Mark Bonner was pleased with Cambridge’s performance as well as the result after they despatched Northampton in the FA Cup.

Bonner’s side made comfortable progress with a 3-1 success, with the game effectively over soon after half time when Ben Worman added to first-half goals from Harvey Knibbs and Sam Smith.

Danny Rose’s late goal to reduce the deficit was merely a consolation for Northampton.

Cambridge will go on to host Exeter, who knocked them out of the competition two seasons ago, after the Grecians despatched Bradford in extra time in their own replay.

“What tonight does is it gets us in the next round which is really important. That being a home game will get us a little break from the league,” said Bonner after the game.

“We wanted to respond well from Saturday, we wanted to be better than we were when we played up at their place. I thought at times tonight we played some really good football. We looked a good attacking threat, we had to defend against some aggressive forward play.

“We looked a bit edgy and nervy to start with but we found our way into the game quite nicely, and the goals we scored were very good and we might have had one or two more with some really good attacking play. So there were some good performances, a really important result and progress into the next round of the competition which ultimately is what it’s all about.

“It was an important result for us. Every win is good for confidence. We had to deliver a decent performance tonight and we did.”

After a strong defensive record in recent weeks, Northampton boss Jon Brady was disappointed by the nature of the goals that his side conceded at the Abbey Stadium.

“To concede on their first real attack after the first 15 minutes, where we were absolutely dominating them, took the wind out of our sails,” Brady said.

“We tried to get back in the game and then conceded from a second phase on a set piece. Again, we didn’t deal with the cross and it was very frustrating. We came out, and to concede in the way we did with the third one is very frustrating.

“It’s very uncharacteristic for us, the way we conceded. We’re finding it tough in a moment over the last two games. Defensively we’ve been sound at dealing with crosses. It was a tough one for us to take after the first 15, the way we started tonight, but we shouldn’t concede those goals.

“We got good opportunities but didn’t really make the most of it, didn’t get a finish to it, so it’s very disappointing.”