Williams hoping to chase down van Veen after helping Cobblers get past '˜moaning' Crewe

The 32-year-old was made to wait for his first Northampton goal but, after netting on his 12th appearance of the campaign, he made it two in four games when breaking the deadlock 18 minutes into Saturday’s contest at the PTS Stadium.

That set Cobblers on their way to a third straight victory as Daniel Powell fired home a late second to continue the club’s resurgence under Keith Curle, lifting them to 15th in Sky Bet League Two.

Williams’ goal was the product of good work by Kevin van Veen, the third time the pair have linked up this season. The Dutchman currently holds a 6-2 lead over his strike partner on the goal front.

“I think I set him up for a goal at Carlisle and he repaid the favour to me against Forest Green and again on Saturday,” said Williams.

“We have a good relationship and he’s a good player and it’s easy to form relationships with good players so hopefully we get more opportunities going forward and hopefully I manage to catch him up on the goal front!”

Williams’ goal on Saturday only stood after referee Scott Oldham had held a long discussion with his fourth official as Crewe protested about a potential foul in the build-up.

The striker was having none of it though, adding: “They were complaining about something that happened in the build-up but they complained quite a lot all game and unfortunately I think when you moan so much people stop listening.

“It was thankful for me that they gave it because I wouldn’t have been too happy with the fourth official if he decided to cancel out what was a perfectly good goal – in my opinion!

“I think it’s important to keep this momentum going at the moment because that’s three wins on the bounce now and five wins in six so it’s a really good run.

“The lads defended great and it was important to get a clean sheet and I think we’re defending really well at the moment and the clean sheet is reward for the defenders and the whole team.”