Nolan confirms reason for his unusually early subs in Wimbledon victory

Cobblers started well at Sixfields but lost momentum after Marcus Browne cancelled out Conor McCarthy’s opener, and their shakiness at the back prompted Nolan to make a rare first half substitution, with Max Dyche replacing Forbes. He then swapped Campbell for Kamarai Swyer at the break as Cameron McGeehan dropped into a deeper role.

The home side were much improved at the start of the the second half and claimed all three points courtesy of McGeehan’s eight-minute brace as they moved into the top half of the League One table.

"The subs were both tactical,” Nolan confirmed. "I had to change it earlier than I would have liked because I wasn't happy at half-time. We lost too many battles so I decided to give us some legs in terms of getting Kam on and using his ability and trickery on the ball to get us up the pitch and give us something different.

“We also dropped Cam McGeehan a bit deeper and I asked the boys to be a bit more aggressive and play forward more because I felt we tended to turn down some really good opportunities to play forward in the first half, especially when we went 1-0 up. We seemed to think we didn't have to keep putting the ball in the box so I showed them some clips and they did it better in the second half and we got the rewards.

"People did their jobs and when you do your jobs and put the ball in the right areas, it gives you a good opportunity to score goals, and Cam's the man you want it to drop to.

"I was delighted with how the boys reacted at the start of the second half and the changes worked. Our subs are coming on and making a real big impact at the moment and that's what we need and expect of them.”