McWilliams wasn't even meant to be on the pitch when he scored the winner at Stevenage

Midfielder Shaun McWilliams admitted he was not sure he would even be able to last the full game, let alone score a dramatic late winner, against table-topping Stevenage on Saturday.

Making his first start in six weeks due to injury, the 24-year-old was excellent in central midfield but might have been substituted had Ali Koiki and Sam Sherring not picked up knocks in the second-half. Instead, he was shifted to right wing-back by manager Jon Brady and that proved a masterstroke when McWilliams popped up with an 87th-minute winner.

"It's my first start since injury and the gaffer asked me how I was feeling in the second-half,” said the midfielder. “I was blowing a bit but I said I was OK and then I had to go to right wing-back.

"I'm not sure I was scheduled to play 90 minutes and I wasn't sure if I would get through the whole game but I’m glad I did!

"For us to be pulled back to 2-2 against top of the league, away from home, and then win 3-2 in the way we did, we are buzzing with that. I'm not even sure where that puts us in the table but we have beaten top of the league which is never a bad thing."

McWilliams was staying coy when asked about Stevenage boss Steve Evans’ pre-match suggestion that he had tried to sign the midfielder in the summer. "I'm not too sure about that,” he replied. “It might be news to me, it might not be, but I'm a Cobblers player.”

Town have taken four points from away trips at the top two and now return to Sixfields for back-to-back games this week.

McWilliams continued: "There's a long way to go but you can only focus on the present and what's happening now and at the moment we are third so we are in a good position.

"We have had a tough run of fixtures. It's very rare you play the top two teams away from home back-to-back but if you had offered us four points from those games, we would have bitten your hand off.

"It's been a difficult run of games but we back ourselves and we just need to carry on the way we are going. We can get momentum from this result and kick-on.

"We have played away for the last few weeks so it will be nice to get back home. The next game is just around the corner so we need to recover and get ready because every game is a big game.”