WHEN Nicky Ajose gets home on a Saturday evening after playing for Crewe and flicks on the television the first result that he looks to is not his parent club Leeds United or his former employers Peterborough – instead it is Swindon Town.

That is how fondly the 23-year-old regards the club, where he spent six months on loan, and there will be few bigger cheerleaders in Town’s push for promotion than the forward.

However, Ajose is hoping Swindon will continue their bad run away from home this weekend, before kick-starting their push for the Championship again.

“I have still got a few good mates there like Nathan Thompson and, if I am selected, I will probably be playing up against him which will be interesting,” he told the Swindon Advertiser.

“For me it’s the first result I check every week and I am constantly on at the boys like Louis (Thompson), and Nathan (Thompson) and Wes (Foderingham) saying I want them to go up because it is a team that I have fond memories of.

“It is a team that I think if they go up to the Championship, like Brentford are doing this year, can kick on.

“Obviously they need to get out of this league first and I really do hope they achieve that – but maybe have a little stumbling block on Saturday.”

Ajose was disappointed that he couldn’t see the job through with Town when he was re-called by Peterborough last January to help in their own push for the Championship.

With the likes of Ryan Mason, who is now getting regular starts for Tottenham Hotspurs, and Alex Pritchard, who is helping Brentford push for a place at the top table, Ajose admits that an opportunity was missed last season and hopes the current crop won’t do the same this year.

“I was recalled because Peterborough were going for promotion at the time,” he added.

“It was disappointing; you know it wasn’t my decision.

“They were my parent club and I have got to respect that and I went back there and tried to prove myself there.

“But it was disappointing to leave because I think we were in a good position at Swindon and had a really good group there who should have been in the play-offs.

“Players have gone on to play at an even higher level so it was an opportunity missed in my eyes and it was disappointing not to see it through.”

Ajose struggled to get into the Leeds United team before being shipped off on loan for the seventh time in his young career – and has not ruled out a return to the County Ground in the future.

“I just want Swindon to go up for the players there and the manager, I think they deserve it,” said the forward who is concentrating on keeping Crewe, who are five points out of the relegation zone, in League One.

“Obviously if the opportunity arose (to return to Swindon) it would be something I would be interested in after the time I had there and the quality of the staff and the players.

“It is not about me thinking that far ahead.

“First and foremost I want to keep doing well for Crewe, they have given me a good chance here and I would like for us to stay up and Swindon to go up out of the Championship would be a perfect season for me.”