Misery

The central defender's first appearance in a red shirt saw him head past his own keeper at the Evening Advertiser Town End.

His eighth minute own goal was merely the start of a miserable afternoon against Stoke City but the 31-year-old is now hoping Town can turn the corner, starting with a win at Northampton Town.

Dryden has struggled to win a first team place at Southampton this year and has already spent part of the season on loan to tomorrow's opponents.

He shudders at the recollection of his first 'goal' in Swindon colours.

"It was terrible to see the ball go past Bart. It certainly wasn't the way I wanted to start here at Swindon," he said.

However, the player is determined his own goal will not undermine his attempts to impress Andy King and the County Ground faithful.

"I am here for a month and I want to get a few decent games under my belt. It was a terrible start but I will start afresh against Northampton," he said.

"I only left Northampton about three of four weeks ago and on quite good terms. I was there for a couple of months and I think we only lost once in about eight or nine games."

However, he is now hoping for a run in the Town side and looking forward to putting together a similar period of success.

Having spent two months at Sixfields he is in an ideal position to provide his new boss with some inside information.

"If I'm asked then I will give my opinion about Northampton but Andy King and Malcolm Crosby know what they're doing so I'll keep my nose out unless they approach me," said Dryden.

He will be out to stop Jamie Forrester continuing his impressive scoring for the Cobblers.

The former Leeds striker was at Grimsby Town during Andy King's spell as assistant manager at Blundell Park.

"We let him go because he wasn't good enough," said King. "He is scoring goals for Northampton now, but he never looked like scoring goals for Grimsby. It is a confidence thing."

King has warned supporters there is no instant magic cure to lift Town out of the bottom three.

The Town boss said: "As I've said so many times, we are capable of beating any of the teams in the division. I'm not worried about Northampton."

He refused to reveal whether any changes will be made for the clash with the Cobblers but hinted he may alter the formation.

Since taking charge he has favoured three central defenders and three in midfield. He said fans had to realise the game was not an exact science.

He said: "If the system hasn't worked previously then you might have to look at another way of playing.

"If football was that simple, why do we go grey and bald?"

King is enjoying every minute of the job at Town and said being involved with football was like experiencing Christmas every day.

"Unfortunately I don't always get the present I want," he said.