Hawley has scored 67 goals in 180 starts to date

Northampton Town have signed Preston North End striker Karl Hawley on an initial one-month loan.

The 26-year-old joined Preston from Carlisle in June 2007 where he was a prolific goal-scorer.

"I've been chasing Karl for a long time, I'm delighted to have him here," said Northampton manager Stuart Gray.

"I think Karl knows this division well and I remember him taking my eye when he played against us for Carlisle in one of my first games in charge here."

Hawley joined Preston in June 2007 when he was signed by then manager Paul Simpson.

It was also Simpson who signed him at Carlisle United where he enjoyed three successful seasons with the Cumbrians and his 13 goals in 2004/05 went a long way to helping Carlisle regain their Football League status.

The following season then went even better, as he finished as leading scorer on 26 goals to fire Simpson's side to their second successive promotion as League Two champions.

"Karl is very enthusiastic and coming here will give him a good opportunity to play some games," added Gray.

"He is an aggressive player and he has got a very good goal scoring record at this level.

"We have struggled a bit up front in the last few games in terms of scoring goals so hopefully he can bring us the goals that we want."

"I'm delighted to have added Karl to the squad and he obviously comes straight into contention for Saturday."

Northampton Town take on local rivals Peterborough United on Saturday and you can hear it on BBC Radio Northampton on 104.2 and 103.6 FM.