Brady's decision pays off as super sub McWilliams clinches victory for Cobblers at Barrow

Replacing winger Mitch Pinnock with central midfielder Shaun McWilliams was not an obvious change for Jon Brady to make during Saturday’s game against Barrow, but it was one that certainly paid off.

Cobblers were leading 1-0 through Ben Fox’s 54th-minute opener when Pinnock, who had a quiet afternoon, made way. McWilliams came on as a narrow right-sided midfielder, partly to keep tabs on Josh Kay but also to provide fresh energy.

And he did more than that when wrapping up all three points by effectively slide-tackling the ball into the net after Paul Farman had saved Sam Hoskins’ low shot with five minutes to play.

"I didn't think Mitch was quite right today and I felt we needed some energy,” said Brady.

"They put (Josh) Kay on as a substitute and he has super pace down their left-hand side so I thought we could get Shaun on and he could play a little more tucked in.

"We basically had three midfielders with Shaun tucking inside the shape, but lo and behold he gambled on Sam's shot and (Patrick) Brough has gone to clear it and Shaun has tackled him brilliantly.

"Those are the small margins at this level. You go back to the Swindon home game when Mitch gets in and the goalkeeper gets a tiny scratch on it, the ball goes a fraction wide and then 30 seconds we go 1-0 down.

"But today we get that goal and I've talked for the last two years about fine margins, but I felt we deserved that win for all of our performances in the last few weeks, in my opinion.”

Cobblers had lost three of their previous four games before Saturday but the return of both captain Jon Guthrie and natural left-back Ali Koiki helped them to a vital victory in Cumbria, and also a clean sheet.

"I think we have been playing quite well recently but just haven't had the rub of the green,” added Brady. “I'm so pleased with the group.

"We had a strong back-line out and it was great to have Ali back out on the left and AK (Akin Odimayo) back in a more natural position on the right.

"To miss our captain away at a team like Stockport, it's a huge loss, but to have him back, he showed how important he is to our team.”