Harry McKirdy is the cover star for this week's edition of 'town', the Official 2021-22 Matchday Magazine of Swindon Town.
The Reds play host to Rochdale at The County Ground this Saturday - 3pm Kick-Off - and McKirdy is the feature interview in this week's edition of 'town.'
After scoring huge goals in back-to-back games, we sat down with the striker for an honest and in-depth interview and Town fans can read a snippet below..
Harry, it has been a really interesting journey for you up to this point. You were on trial at SN1 during the summer before signing a contract after the Takeover had been completed, so talk us through your summer and start of your relationship with Town...
"It has been a difficult 18 months. I left Aston Villa, signed for Carlisle and had a really good season until COVID-19 came. Football is such a small world and once a couple of people have an opinion, it seems to stick and you could say I was hard done by. I made mistakes but I matured and some things got taken out of hand and people kept getting the wrong side of stuff.
"I ended up going on trial the last two summers, it didn't work out last year and no one really wanted to touch me to be honest. It was difficult but I kept plugging away, keeping myself fit at home and I probably got lucky that Swindon were in the position they were in. If they weren't, then I don't know where I would have ended up. Everything has worked out now and I'm really enjoying it."
You spoke after your heroics against Bristol Rovers about your relationship with the Gaffer and just what he has meant to you, so can you explain how big an impact he's had on you up to this point?
"Because of the last couple of years I really don't take it for granted and everyone has been brilliant with me - the players, the staff, the fans and it is something I don't take for granted. This is probably the first time I've had this feeling since leaving Villa and I love being here. I think everyone can see that from the players, the staff and the fans and they've been brilliant with me."
You signed on the dotted line and then scored on your debut away at Scunthorpe in what was a brilliant team win, and one no one really saw coming given how quickly this team was assembled and the lack of preseason. That really set the tone for what has happened since, hasn't it?
"I think in football no one really knows what is going on apart from those within the group. I was hearing stuff about hoping to stay up and you know as a player yourself, you aren't deluded and you could see the players we were bringing in and the standard of boys we had in training. I don't think it ever crossed my mind that we would be anywhere near that because this is the best group of players that I've played with since I've been at this level and it really wasn't a shock to us. I'm not surprised at how we're doing, if anything we need to pick up the form at home because we've lost to teams at home we really shouldn't have lost to and dropped points and we need to find some form at home and keep pushing on.
"It is all good playing well but we've not scored that many goals at home and we hadn't scored more than one goal in many games since the first game of the season. The last couple of games we've scored more than once and we just need to start scoring goals at home. It is all well and good playing well but if you don't score goals then you aren't going to win games. We need to start scoring goals at home and once we do that then we'll win games."
Enjoyed that? To read our chat with Harry McKirdy in full, download Saturday's edition of 'town' RIGHT HERE for just £2.
Plus, we have a copy of FIFA 22 to giveaway - we have one for either the PS5 or XBOX Series X / XBOX One - and all you have to do to get your hands on it is download this week's edition of 'town'!
There will also be hard copies of our Official Matchday Magazine on sale from the STFC Store and outside the ground prior to kick-off on Saturday for £3.
Get your tickets for Saturday's game against Rochdale right here!
