Swindon have 'quality' in every position says new boy Hope

HALLAM HOPE has heaped praise on his Swindon Town teammates insisting that the squad have top quality in every position as he got on the scoresheet to help the league-leaders run out comfortable 3-0 winners against Port Vale at the weekend. Total Sport Swindon's Rajan Hothi spoke to the forward following the win.

After Jerry Yates was recalled last week, all eyes were on Swindon to see how they would do after having 35 goals kicked out the team, but Richie Wellens' side proved the doubters wrong again with a routine win against Vale.

A Leon Legge own-goal alongside strikes from Hope and Michael Doughty saw Swindon avenge their defeat in the reverse fixture, and Hope felt that his debut couldn't have gone any better.

"It was the perfect debut really with the goal and the 3-0 win so I'm happy with that," stated Hope. 

"The defence kept a clean sheet and were solid which gave us the base to play and it was a great result."

The 25-year-old bagged Swindon's second goal, as he finished off a fantastic team move, but felt on another day he could've had a few more.

"Doughty played the ball through and it was a great cross from Hunt and I managed to get on the end of it.

"I thought I played okay and got in some good positions. Maybe in another game, I would have hopefully got a better shot off or scored or grabbed an assist."

Wellens was reportedly keen to sign Hope during the summer, after the forward scored 17 goals in all competitions last season, though a move never materialised and he stayed at Carlisle. 

But despite only being at SN1 for a short period, the Barbados international revealed he's a big fan of his new teammates. 

"It was quite close to happening in the summer. When I found out it was close again in January, I was excited and wanted to push that through," said Hope.

"It's a lot different with the circumstances, obviously Swindon are top of the league and Carlisle are near the bottom, but the way we play and move the ball really works.

"We've got quality in all areas. The defence is solid, we have creative midfielders, midfielders who tackle and move us forward and pace upfront and good quality.

"It's very young but a very professional squad. Training is at a high standard and that'll bring out the best in me."

Much has been made of the loss of Eoin Doyle and Yates, but Hope feels there is no pressure on him to replace the pair.

Doyle notched 23 goals during his time with Town, while Yates bagged 12 himself, making the pair the deadliest strike force in the league, but Hope feels that he is under no pressure to replicate the form the duo have endured this season.

"We're different players. Jerry's really good, we played together at Carlisle and did well with together, but there's no pressure with the comparisons," he revealed.

"I'm just here to do what I can for the team and help out winning promotion."