Nahki Wells is convinced his barren spell will end with yet another goal against Northampton.

City’s leading marksman last hit the net with a free-kick at Fleetwood – three weeks before Wembley.

But the third-placed Cobb-lers have provided rich pickings for the Bermudian with five goals in four previous encounters, including a hat-trick last April.

And he sees them as the perfect opposition to boost his tally from 18 for the first time since February 2.

Wells said: “It feels like last year when I last scored. It’s been a long, long time.

“But goals come with good performances and as long as I play well at the weekend I’ve no doubt I can score against Northampton – I’ve done it before.

“I’ve scored in three out of four games against them and I won’t be surprised if I step up and do it again. You feel like it will happen.

“When we first played them this season, all I could remember was my hat-trick and I popped up and scored the winner in the league game.

“We played them again in the FA Cup and I came on with ten minutes to go and scored a penalty. I also missed one in the shoot-out but you sense that extra confidence because you’ve previously scored against them.

“I’m sure they will be aware of that. It’s the same defence and they have the same manager.

“Fingers crossed, I get the nod to start again and I’ll back myself to score.”

Wells made his first start for six games in Monday’s 3-1 win at Torquay, which revived City’s play-off chase. He had gone off the boil in the last couple of months and wants to restore Phil Parkinson’s faith by doing what he does best.

He added: “I don’t think it’s anything to do with my confidence. I didn’t feel there was that confidence in me.

“My form definitely dipped. I haven’t had a good run of games.

“This is my second season and it’s never happened to me before in my career.

“Since Gillingham at home, I haven’t played more than 60 minutes in a game – 15 minutes here, five minutes there, another 20, then I get a start and go off with a knock – it just didn’t work out for me.

“But finally I got a good game after starting and now hopefully I can get a repetition going. That’s all I need to get going again.

“It was nice to know that I was starting. I had a feeling after the gaffer brought me on (against Southend) that he might have a bit of faith in me again.

“He put me in and it paid off. A goal would have topped off a very good performance but the three points was what mattered.

“Hopefully from now to the end of the season I could be the key to getting us back to promotion.”

City are five points off seventh-placed Exeter with six games to go. But Wells is not looking past Northampton.

“Every game is a play-off final now,” he said. “As soon as we mess up, the mission becomes more impossible than possible.

“But a win against Northampton and maybe a few slip-ups, then it might be set for us.”