McGowan feels back to his best and has 'a fire in my stomach' to lead promotion charge for Cobblers

Defender and vice-captain Aaron McGowan says his only focus is on trying to win promotion with the Cobblers this season having now found his best form again following six months out with injury.

The 26-year-old was excellent throughout most of last season but his debut campaign at Sixfields ended in disaster when a serious knee injury was followed by Town missing out on promotion in the most extreme and unfortunate of circumstances.

It was a gruelling and arduous summer of rehabilitation for McGowan but he returned to the team in mid-October and has not taken long to start playing some of his best football again.

"I feel like I'm nearly there now,” he said. “I wouldn't say I'm surprised (at how quickly he’s got back to his best) but I can only go off what my manager is telling me and I do feel I have been very good since I've returned.

"I worked like a dog when I was off. I was so frustrated with the way my season ended last season – it couldn't have ended any worse – and I probably have a little fire in my stomach to go and really push for this club and get us promoted.

"The end of last season was really, really difficult for me to take so, as I say, there's a fire in me because I want to do well for this football club. I feel like I'm back to usual self and hopefully that can only be a good thing for the team."

If Cobblers are to make up for last season with promotion, they will need to start turning home draws – like Saturday’s stalemate against Tranmere – into wins.

McGowan added: “With the standards we have set ourselves from previous performances, we should be winning games like this, but football is full of ups and downs and we can't get too down about it.

"We are still in a good position, we just didn't quite have that final touch or pass but that's something we have had most of the season so I'm not too concerned about that.

"It's not like we haven't been creating chances, it's just lacking that bit of cutting edge in the final third but Tranmere defended really well and they are a hard team to break down. We probably needed to problem solve in the final third a bit better."