TYLER SMITH: I'm at Swindon to score goals

SWINDON TOWN’S Tyler Smith insists he is here to score big goals for the club in League One this season after opening his league tally for Swindon in their 3-1 opening-day victory over Rochdale yesterday. Total Sport Swindon’s Ryan Walker spoke to the STFC goalscorer following the match.

Opening the scoring in the 4th minute with a clean strike into the bottom corner made Tyler Smith Swindon’s first goalscorer of the new campaign as the Robins produced a dominant display to go top of the League One table. 

Speaking after the victory, Smith had an important message for the Swindon fans:

“I’ve come here to score goals, help the team and hopefully that’s the first of many,” said Smith.

“We’ve got to stick together, work hard, and take our chances when they come to us. 

“It’s that simple and as long as we work hard we’ve got a good chance this season.

“I thought the performance was excellent today. We dug in hard and knew we needed the three points to get off to a good start and that’s what we’ve done today,” he added.

An impressive performance from the on-loan Sheffield United striker saw him constantly threaten the opposition goal as his mazing runs in behind the Rochdale defence made it hard for them to keep track of him. 

And when analysing his performance after the match, Smith admitted he was relieved to have got his first league goal for the club.

“I know all about Rochdale. They like to stay high, have a high defence and I knew I could get in behind,” said Smith.

“I needed to get off to a flyer and it’s always nice to start with a goal.

“I wanted to get that first goal and I’m delighted with it. 

"I was ready for the opportunity and as a striker you’ve always got to be ready for those chances. 

“I was on my toes, it dropped for me nicely and I just slotted it in. I’ve set a goals target but I won’t be sharing that,” he joked. 

“I’m just taking each game as it comes and I’m here to score goals for the club.

“I’m going to do everything possible to do that this season,” said Smith.

A difficult pre-season has made it hard for teams to build any momentum as they enter the new season, and after losing in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night, many were expecting a more difficult afternoon against Rochdale. 

However despite a poor Rochdale performance, Smith believes Swindon deserve all the praise they get.

“We knew there was going to be chances and you’ve just got to be ready for it,” explained Smith.

“Luckily today it just fell right for me.

“We worked hard, ran more than them and I think if you do that then you’ve got a half chance of winning the game,” he said,

“We’ve learnt game management and that’s what you need to do to win the games at times. 

“We played the game at our tempo and we’ve got the three points.

“We’ve done well today but we won’t get ahead of ourselves. There’s another game coming soon so we will take it step by step and see where we can end up,” he added.