STUART McCall has praised Jordy Hiwula for not letting his head go down after firing City’s dramatic winner at Northampton.

Hiwula netted five minutes from time to complete the comeback and clinch a first league win in six games.

Mark Marshall came off the bench to spark a dominant second period, blasting the equaliser and then crossing for the Huddersfield loanee’s seventh of the season. Boss McCall was thrilled for Hiwula, who has come in for some stick after missing big chances in recent games.

McCall said: “Jordy’s only a young lad and it is only natural that things will play on your mind if you’ve missed a couple of opportunities.

“But he’s still trying to get himself in areas and he’s not hiding. Things might not come off but he’s always there looking for the ball. Jordy is a different option for us. He’ll look after the ball and play with the midfield boys like Lawsy (Nicky Law) and Josh (Cullen) and then he can get in the box.

“You would think he’d have every right to feel a bit insecure but he still shows for the ball. That’s why we’re absolutely delighted for him.”

City again recovered from a poor first half at the Sixfields Stadium which saw them trailing at the break – and the fans chanting sarcastically after it took half an hour for the first shot.

McCall had rested Marshall and James Hanson among five changes from the weekend but threw them both on at the interval. He added: “We needed a bit of width and power.

“We didn’t cause them a threat in the first half for all the play we had. We got in some really good positions but never pulled the trigger.

“We told the players to go back out and make the fans proud. Win, lose or draw give everything – get the shots off, get the crosses in and put the keeper under pressure.

“Don’t come back with any regrets. I didn’t want us saying ‘we could have done this or that’.

“But you could see from the reaction of the players, the moment the equaliser went in they just wanted to go and get a winner.

“A draw would have felt like another defeat. But we showed the desire and determination to come away with the three points.”