Mark Kennedy said that Nnamdi Ofoborh deserves massive credit for the work he has put in to get himself back into the head coach’s immediate plans.

The midfielder had started the first four games of Swindon Town’s season before dropping to the bench against Crewe Alexandra and was even out of the squad for the games against Notts County and Exeter City.

Kennedy said that he was open to the possibility of loaning Ofoborh out ahead of the trip to Barrow AFC as he felt that he needed more game time than he was likely to get at Town.

However, Ofoborh has gone away and decided to fight for his place in the squad and Kennedy said he was very impressed and has re-evaluated his thoughts on the 24-year-old.

He said: “I have to say a huge well done and special mention to Nnamdi because things change in football constantly.

“My big fear for Nnamdi was that I needed to get him some minutes especially given what has happened to him in the past, so it is imperative that we get him time on the grass.

“Then within that period, Ollie got injured, Joel went away, and he found himself back in the fold.

“He has actually gone away off his own back and done a huge amount of extra work, he has trimmed down a lot, he was never overweight but he is a big powerful lad and he is looking leaner, sharper, and he is able to work harder than he was.

“He has performed really admirably in training in a way that he is saying ‘I want to be part of your plans’ and he has done that all off his own back. I can’t compliment him enough for that.

“I hope that this is a good learning for him and for any player you should be like that in July not have a conversation in August where you think you are up against it.

“But he deserves a huge amount of credit and when he came on on Saturday he did really well.

“He is a funny character Nnamdi because when John Bostock came in for a few days, Nnamdi’s performances went through the roof.

“I’m like ‘You need to perform like that consistently, don’t wait for someone to come in’ but he is a young lad in life finding his way and he deserves a huge amount of credit for the work he has done.”