He refused to class the victory as one of his greatest moments in charge of Vics, but was more than willing to sing the praises of his squad and the fans.

"The lads have been working really hard for the last six weeks and that effort was apparent on Saturday. We were the best team," said Wilson.

"The fans were absolutely superb as well, as they have been all season away from home."

There was growing speculation prior to Saturday's match that Wilson's reign as manager could be coming to an end, despite only losing once in five games prior to the Rushden match.

It was speculation Wilson finds hard to understand.

He added: "We are midway up the table and capable of going much higher than that.

"If a club is considering sacking a manager whose team is in 11th spot, then there are going to be a lot of nervous bosses around.

"We have only lost once in the last six games and have put in some good, solid performances."

But he admits he is under constant pressure: "The pressure will be on again this weekend at Dover, that is to be expected because it is a tough away game but we will be treating it like any other fixture."

Chairman Rod Stitch denied Wilson's position was ever under threat.

He said: "I feel very sorry for Phil. The Rushden win will be forgotten in an instant if we lose at Dover or are beaten by Droylsden and he will face criticism again.

"I firmly believe in backing a manager as far as possible, within reason.

"It is so easy to sack a manager and panic to shut up any dissenters, but what good would it do anybody?

"We are not in a desperate position by any stretch of the imagination and Saturday's performance proved that."

He also called for the club and fans to pull together for the benefit of the team, adding: "It is not helping anybody if fans are criticising the manager and the club is criticising the fans. We are all in this together.

"We can beat anybody on our day but we have also showed we can be beaten by anybody at home.

"But it can be difficult for players to perform in that cauldron atmosphere.

"Phil Wilson is doing everything he can to win every game we play.

"He knows we need to improve at home and he is the best man to solve that problem."

Vics travel to Dover on Saturday with Phil Wilson likely to name an unchanged side following Saturday's win.

He is also unlikely to draft in a loan player now, with Neil Illman and Ian Cooke returning from injury.

Wilson added: "We now have four strikers fighting for two positions, which is a good position to be in. I don't see the point of bringing in a player on loan because, with so many cup matches on the horizon, a player could be left playing just two matches from four in a month."

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.