Smith admits his confidence was 'very low' before Burton double - but he remains determined to prove himself to Cobblers fans

Striker Harry Smith admitted his confidence was 'very low' before bagging a brace during Town's 3-1 victory over Burton Albion on Saturday.

The 25-year-old had struggled for goals and form since scoring on the opening day of the season against Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup.

But manager Keith Curle restored Smith to the side for Saturday's trip to Burton and he looked a completely new man once he flicked Alan Sheehan's free-kick into the net after just 90 seconds.

"I'm over the moon," said Smith. "It was a difficult game the last time I played last weekend. I know it wasn't good enough so I wanted to respond and I feel like I have done and I'm delighted for the boys.

"Team selection is always down to the manager. If I start, I start. If not, I can only do what I can in training during the week to get back into the starting XI. The gaffer stuck with me and hopefully I repaid him."

Smith has had his fair share of critics during his 18 months at the Cobblers but after several false dawns, he remains as determined as ever to prove himself to sceptical supporters.

"I just want to keep going, keep working hard and hopefully things start to fall for me a bit more," he added. "I scored in the first game of the season against Cardiff and then had a goal drought after that and you ask any striker, the more games you go without scoring goals, the more pressure you feel.

"Confidence has been very low if I'm honest and I've just been craving that first goal. When I got the first one, it's crazy as a striker - it just feels like a release and it helped my game massively once that went in.

"The second was another boost and hopefully now I can kick-on and really show people that I am good enough to lead the line here and play a big part.

"I actually thought I was better in the second-half but I'll leave that for others to decide. I'm never one to talk about my own performance - I'm sure people have their own opinions!"

Talking through his goals against Burton, Smith continued: "It was the perfect start. Scoring as early as possible is always a good thing and it was a brilliant delivery from Shees. Hosko (Sam Hoskins) got a little flick first and then I've managed to get the second flick and luckily it's ended up in the net.

"I said to the boys in the changing room afterwards that if I didn't score the second, I would have just beaten myself up because I know I could have gone round the goalkeeper as he had committed.

"When I was peeling away the ball seemed to take an eternity to go into the net. I was just waiting to see if it would trickle in and fortunately enough it did and that put us in a strong position."

Chris Lines added the gloss with a superbly-taken third goal, although Smith could have taken that chance all for himself.

"It was a great ball by Marshy (Mark Marshall) and it was perfect for me," he added. "I thought 'this is a hat-trick chance for me' but I heard Linsey shout behind so I tried to distract the defender to make sure he didn't get first contact.

"Linesy hit one like that last season. I can't remember who it was against but I think it got goal of the season so he's brilliant at that sort of strike and it's another great finish and that really killed the game.

"I did think at 2-0 'right, let's go and get a hat-trick' but 10 minutes later my legs were absolutely gone and we've got good enough options on the bench who can come on and give us fresh legs. I did my job and then Benny (Ashley-Seal) came on and did well."

Even the disappointment of conceding a stoppage-time penalty couldn't detract from an excellent away win for the Cobblers, despite Curle's frustration.

"We were saying in the changing room that we were disappointed because we had been excellent and I think 3-0 would have been a justified scoreline," Smith admitted.

"We deserved a clean sheet so it's disappointing. Obviously Fraser (Horsfall) knows he shouldn't put his arm up there and the gaffer was disappointed with Mitch's kick, but these are little things that we can improve on. The main thing was to get the three points.

"It's a huge win for us. We see all the criticism we get and we see the pressure that's ramped up on games and fans obviously have their right to vent.

"We knew Saturday was a big game but it wasn't a season-definer. A win has put us 16th in the table and I think we can get up to 13th with a win on Tuesday and suddenly it's looking rosy. Things can change very quickly in football."