Staggered Wilder blown away by 'unbelievable' Cobblers support

It’s been a roller-coaster of a season for those who follow the Cobblers but the support has never once wavered, highlighted on Tuesday when the club took one of their biggest ever followings to an away match.

In total, 7,040 Cobblers supporters were in attendance at stadiummk but they couldn’t cheer their side onto victory as goals from Ben Reeves, Josh Murphy and Simon Church handed Dons a controversial but deserved victory.

Despite the result, Wilder was blown away by the support he and his side received and he had nothing but the utmost praise for the fans afterwards.

He said: “I’ve got to say, I’m staggered. The support was immense from our guys.

“Taking 7,000 fans, no matter whether it’s five minutes down the road or half an hour down the road, shows that this club is really alive and kicking.

“We’ve had a turbulent season and an unbelievably up and down year but the club is going forward and I think to a man those supporters believe in what we’re trying to do and believe in the players.

“It’s important now that the players and the supporters get together and really drive this over the line for the next 20 games because we need another big effort.”

Despite missing out on the chance to host Premier League champions Chelsea in round four, Wilder didn’t dwell on the defeat as he switched his focus straight back to the league and winning promotion.

He added: “We’ve talked for the last two weeks about Chelsea coming to us and it could be live on TV and the financial situation but I imagine their chairman has had a word in Karl’s ear because they had just as much at stake.

“They knew the incentive and that heightened the stakes, but we have to quickly get over it and dust ourselves down and go again.

“We’ve got a massive game on Saturday and I’d love to see a sell-out again because I think the players deserve another big crowd.

“We’re looking round now and there’s a lot of those teams playing each other and teams will start to take points off one another so we have to make sure we keep the hammer down for the next 20 games and reward the unbelievable support we’ve had - whether it’s at Milton Keynes or anywhere up and down the country or whether it’s at home - with success.”