The playmaker and defender Lee Kilday carried the can for the previous Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Airdrie after their errors played a key part in the Ton’s downfall.

Fast forward one week, and Forbes netted his first goal for the club to complete a sensational last-gasp turnaround against Ayr United and go from self-appointed fall guy to fan favourite in an instant.

He told the Tele: “I’ve been about long enough to know how quickly things can change, and personally Saturday just showed how in the space of a week it can change. That’s football.

“I wouldn’t say it’s my most important goal, but in terms of keeping us in the hunt and the context of our season it is a big goal.

“We weren’t aware of that [Stranraer’s late winner], nobody is telling you that on the pitch, but it just shows how big the goal and the three points were as we would have probably fallen away a bit.

“I wouldn’t have said it was over. We still have Stranraer to play and we could have clawed three points back there.

“We would have had to win the six games and that’s a big ask for anybody, but we would have still been able to claw it back.” The 26-year-old insisted it was not by luck they turned things around against the Honest Men but through a refusal to give up on the three points he felt Ton deserved.

Forbes added: “I wouldn’t say the feeling was relief because I felt we dominated large parts of the game, especially in the first half.

“They’ve scored a good free-kick, an unstoppable free-kick that he’s put over the wall into the top corner.

“[As a set-piece taker] it’s the kind of goal you appreciate.

“There’s nothing anybody can do to stop that, so you’ve got to hold your hands up and say it’s a good goal. We then had to battle back after they had a spell where they got a lift from the goal, but I think we did that and deserved the win.

“The goal just showed how things can change. The fans were on our back, some people might say a wee bit unfairly or whatever, but they are entitled to voice their opinions. You see how it can change and if we do the business on the park then we’ll get the plaudits.” There was just one second of normal time remaining when Declan McManus equalised, but Forbes revealed there was no way they would have settled for a point at any stage.

He said: “We came into this confident despite recent results.

“Even last week, we were good in the first half and it’s two mistakes in the second that’s cost us. It wasn’t anything to do with our play.

“And we always felt we could still win it on Saturday. With the players we’ve got in the squad, I don’t see why we shouldn’t.

“We have players who have played at a higher level, in the SPL. Peaso [Peter MacDonald] has just come out of it for example — so why would you not believe you could keep going and get these goals.

“Even when we equalised in the last minute, we believed we could get another. If you want to win the league you can’t be happy with a point.

“We’ve not been happy with results the last few weeks, and it would have been the same on Saturday if we had only drawn. It would have been a failure: only three points was good enough.”