McCormack: Cobblers' belief led to epic comeback win - but it'll mean nothing if we don't finish the job

Cobblers midfielder Alan McCormack says the squad's total and utter belief in themselves led to their epic comeback win over Cheltenham on Monday, but he's warned it'll count for little if they fail to clinch promotion at Wembley next week.

From 2-0 down to 3-2 up in 97 exhilarating minutes at Whaddon Road, the Cobblers reached Wembley in the most spectacular fashion as Vadaine Oliver's ninth-minute goal was followed by a second-half double for the hugely impressive Callum Morton.

Town's performance in the Cotswolds was a world away from the disappointing first leg defeat at the PTS.

"A lot of us looked back on the first game and there was a big let down," said McCormack. "We had the big build-up of three weeks training, three weeks preparing and you're waiting so long for that one game and it was a bit of an anti-climax.

"I think we may have worked ourselves up a bit too much in terms of that game but with the second leg on Monday, there was a quick turnaround and we were ready to go.

"Everyone has said it - we had such belief in ourselves. We came in on Saturday after the first leg and nobody was disappointed or upset, we all just couldn't wait for Monday.

"The belief was there from the moment we came in on Saturday morning and we watched clips and we had a chat and we just knew it was going to happen.

"We've been on the wrong end of those results too many times this season and we felt like we were due one and to get it on that night, under that pressure and in those circumstances, I think it'll go down as one of the greatest nights in the club's history. It was very special."

The Cobblers must now back up that performance with another one against Exeter City in Monday's showpiece.

McCormack added: "It was a fantastic result and reaching a play-off final at Wembley is obviously huge but the way we did it was a massive achievement for the club - but it won't be massive if we don't go on and win the final.

"There's no point getting there if you're not going to win it so do to what we've done and write a little bit of history, now we've got to go all the way because it'll mean nothing otherwise.

"There were no medals given out after Monday and there were no trophies handed out, it's next week when the big game happens and you've got to win that game at all costs because you don't get a second chance so we can't have a repeat of the home leg. It's got to be a repeat of Monday."