JAK McCourt’s late strike against Macclesfield Town on Saturday has served Swindon Town a massive confidence boost ahead of this weekend’s League Two clash against table-topping Lincoln City at home, according to manager Richie Wellens.

A run of three points from five games prior to Saturday’s trip to Moss Rose left Swindon preciously in touch with the play-off contenders as the season enters its second half.

But, for the second time this season, Swindon poached three points off the Silkmen as midfielder McCourt registered his first goal in a Town shirt since signing of a free transfer from Chesterfield last summer.

Wellens now believes that Town’s triumph over relegation-threatened Macclesfield can help his side develop a specific playing style and push on from their turbulent festive form.

“The result is good for confidence,” said Wellens.

“We went away to Northampton and Mansfield and delivered positive performances.

“But then we lost at home to Exeter – all of a sudden, at that point, we had played four and won none.

“We are still unbeaten in a lot of games, sometimes the draws can trick you into thinking that you’re on an okay run.

“As soon as you lose a game, those draws turn into negatives.

“I took over when we were 17th in the league, it was always going to be difficult to make the play-offs.”

Macclesfield’s positive start to Saturday’s game prompted a formation change for Town as they switched from 4-1-2-3 to the familiar 4-4-2 structure – matching each of the home side’s players.

The move worked well as Marc Richards netted eight minutes before half-time, while the hosts struggled to threaten Lawrence Vigouroux throughout the second half.

Wellens said: “What we want to do is develop a way of playing – we had to change on Saturday. We were decent in the first 20 minutes, but every time that they attacked, they looked threatening.

“So we matched them up and went 4-4-2 – I wanted to get two strikers on the pitch.

“Can we climb three or four places until the end of January? If we do, then great. Then we can re-evaluate at the end of January and see what we can do.

“We want more from Jermaine (McGlashan), because he’s a threat – especially when he comes on as a substitute and the games are getting stretched.

“As a manager I do not care who scored, I just want to see the ball in the net – I didn’t really see who it was.

“Jak (McCourt) showed great energy to support the play. I would’ve been disappointed with a point, we tried right until the end.”