Town defender Raphael Rossi-Branco was glad to be back in the thick of the action in midweek and was over the moon to have played his part in extending the Reds’ recent fine form.
The towering centre-back missed the 0-0 draw with Oldham Athletic and the 3-1 victory away at Coventry City after being handed a two-match suspension for racking up ten yellow cards.
However, he returned to the fold on Tuesday evening with Lloyd Jones injured and scored as Town made it two wins on the bounce and three games unbeaten courtesy of a brilliant 3-1 win at home to Gillingham.
“It is never good when you are out of the squad and you can’t help your team-mates, but I’m pleased because we did really well and I’m very happy because the team looks really sharp and concentrated,” Branco told swindontownfc.co.uk exclusively.
“We just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing.
“We need to try and get more goals and finish the game earlier if possible, but we are heading in the right direction and hopefully we can get out of trouble as soon as possible.
“Tuesday’s win was very important and it was the first time we had recorded back-to-back victories this season.
“The confidence is high now and everyone is expressing themselves much better.
“On a personal note, it was good to be back in the team as well and I just tried to help the boys.”
Branco was also thrilled to mark his return with a goal and he revealed that he is now edging closer to the goal target he set himself in the summer.
“It is nice to score but the most important thing was the three points,” he continued.
“Hopefully I can get another two goals between now and the end of the season because five was my target at the beginning of the season.
“The goal on Tuesday did mean a lot to me because the last two or three weeks have been tough.
“It was the third goal and it helped to finish the game as well, so I’m just pleased and I hope we can continue our good run to climb out of the relegation zone.”
Town entertain Chesterfield at The County Ground on Saturday (3pm Kick-Off) and Rossi-Branco is expecting another tough encounter.
“It is another huge game and they need the points as much as we do, so it is going to be a tough, tough match because neither side can afford to lose points at this stage of the season,” he added.
“Hopefully we can get the three points.
“They’ve got some good experienced players like Ched Evans and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake so it won’t be easy but hopefully we can keep them far away from our goal.
“If we win Saturday then it is going to be massive and the confidence will increase even more.
“We can then go on and achieve big things and we want to get out of the relegation zone as quickly as possible."
Finally, and following in the footsteps of his Head Coach and some of his team-mates, Rossi-Branco proceeded to heap praise on in-form midfielder Rohan Ince.
“We’ve got two holding midfielders in-front of us now and Rohan Ince is an outstanding player and he’s shown everyone what he can do,” Raphael concluded.
