"It was a really brave header from Jody," McCarthy said after the game.
"The delivery from the free-kick was good and the movement was good and thankfully we had someone in there who wanted to go and head it.
"I don't know if he was unconscious at the time, but he would certainly take some knocking out because he is a tough lad.
"He has got a bit of concussion and he was taken straight to hospital just as a precaution."
On the win against TheShrimpers, McCarthy added: "This game was a turning point for us.
"We had played 20 games and were nine points from the top and 10 from third-bottom.
"So we asked ourselves 'which way do we want to go?'.
"That was the message beforehand and three points takes us the right way - a defeat and we might have had problems."