Cobblers forward Gray admits to a lucky strike at Wimbledon

The 22-year-old was the Cobblers goal hero in south west London, netting twice in the space of three minutes to secure a share of the spoils after the home side had raced into a 2-0 lead after an hour.

To the naked eye it looked as though Gray’s shot from Ricky Holmes’ low cross had clipped off a defender before flying high into the net from six yards, but Gray revealed that wasn’t the case.

“It’s a hard role coming away from home and playing up front on your own, as you have to do a lot of unselfish running,” said Gray.

“But I thought to myself ‘I will get a chance’, and for the first one I have had a bit of luck.

“I have hit the ball and it has come off my left ankle and gone over the keeper.

“It was good from Ivan Toney, he just let the ball roll through his legs and I was just concentrating on getting a good connection on it. I didn’t but it went in!”

There was nothing fortunate about Gray’s second goal though, as he powerfully headed home Brendan Moloney’s right-wing free-kick, and the point earned keeps Northampton in the chase for a top seven finish.

Gray is now targeting a victory over Cambridge United on Easter Monday, and said: “We need to win the game on Monday.

“Cambridge lost again on Saturday, so they will be low on confidence, and there is no reason why we can’t go and get the three points.”

And he is sure the Sixfields support will roar the team to victory over the struggling Us.

“The fans were brilliant when we went 2-0 down on Friday, and they were great when we went 1-0 down against Luton last week,” said Gray.

“They have been fantastic to me since I have been at the club, and they are a 12th man for us.”

Thanks to his recent glut of goals, chatter among the Cobblers faithful is now whether Gray, currently on loan from Accrington Stanley, can become a permanent addition to Sixfields ranks, but the player himself is just concentrating on the here and now.

“I am just enjoying being here at the moment,” said the Northern Ireland Under-21 international.

“I love the club and the lads here, and I am just trying to do the best for the football club, and we’ll see what happens in the summer.”