Dean Furman dedicated his goal against Macclesfield to injured team-mate Omar Daley.

The youngster celebrated the priceless strike in midweek by holding up seven fingers, representing the Jamaican’s shirt number.

Furman was keen to show that Daley, who could be sidelined until Christmas, is still very much in the players’ thoughts.

It was only the second time City have won in seven games this season without Daley. The last was the smash-and-grab 3-2 at Accrington in October when the winger was away on international duty.

Tuesday’s win lifted the gloom of the back-to-back away losses as City hopped back up to fifth in League Two. But with the tough trips to play-off rivals Rochdale and Exeter looming, they need to reinforce the position with three more points against Aldershot on Saturday.

The Shots are not the best travellers – and have won only once in 2009 – but Furman insists there will be no false sense of security.

The on-loan Rangers midfielder said: “We won’t look at that record. We’re expecting another tough game on our hands but we’ll approach it in the right way and hopefully carry on from where we left off on Tuesday.

“The home form has been very pleasing, although we’ve had a few too many draws. Every team wants to make their home ground a fortress and we need to keep our performances a bit more consistent.”

Furman’s winner against Macclesfield was his second goal for City and he admitted his overwhelming feeling afterwards was one of relief. The result was critical after successive losses against Barnet and Notts County had sapped confidence.

He said: “We really let ourselves down in those two games. It was so frustrating for us and the fans because we’d been on a good run in the previous month.

“But we came out on Tuesday and showed the right spirit. We knew what the game would be like but we played with a good tempo from the off.

“Teams have come here before to frustrate and, to be fair to the likes of Chester, some have succeeded. It did seem for a time like the ball would never go in for us, so to score the goal was a big relief for everyone.

“Whether it was 1-0 or 4-0 didn’t matter. We were just happy with the points.”

Having copped abuse from the away fans at Meadow Lane last weekend, City won over the detractors with a much-improved display in midweek. Furman believes the backing from the stands can play a key role as the promotion race reaches fever pitch.

He said: “The fans have been great all season and it really helps when they stay behind us. They gave us the extra push we needed on Tuesday and I’m sure it will be the same against Aldershot.

“We’ve had two bad defeats and the best way for everyone to forget them is to keep picking up points. We got the job done against Macclesfield and now everyone is focused and determined to do the same this weekend.”