SWINDON forward Matias Perkkio has revealed he came back to the Link Centre because it’s what his father would have wanted.

Perkkio’s father Markku died in January and the Finnish forward returned to his homeland just over three weeks ago to be with his family.

But the 25-year-old was back in a Wildcats shirt on Wednesday and scored the first two goals in Swindon’s 8-5 demolition of visitors Slough.

And as well as stating his reasons for returning to Wiltshire, Perkkio thanked his teammates and the club’s hierarchy for their support.

“I wanted to finish the season here and I’m pretty sure my dad would have wanted me to do that,” he said.

“I’ve had great support from the guys and for the team management to let me go and spend time with my family meant everything to me.

“I enjoyed the game (against Slough), it was really emotional. It was great to have a cheer from the supporters at the start of the game.

“I wanted to score a hat-trick but the other Finn (Henri Sandvik) didn’t pass to me, he wanted to score his own hat-trick!”

Wildcats head coach Ryan Aldridge was not surprised to see Perkkio re-enter the fray of the EPL in such strong form.

Aldridge said: “He scored his two goals and the first one especially was good, he got that off his back and I’m sure it was for someone special.

“I thought he was phenomenal and I half-expected him to come back and play the way he did, to be honest.”