O CAPTAIN, my captain.

If any Swindon Town fan had forgotten what they had in Nathan Thompson, then surely they’ve realised by now with the defender back on the pitch brandishing the captain’s armband on his bicep.

The 25-year-old’s start at Gillingham was just his 10th league appearance of the season.

After ending last season on a sour note as he limped off from the League One play-off final with a recurrence of a hamstring injury, the Town skipper was back in injury hell once again towards the end of his team’s loss to title-chasing Burton Albion in September – a problem he had first sustained weeks earlier against Southend United at Roots Hall.

It has taken time for Thompson to nurse himself back to fitness but on January 30, he was finally back in action at right-back in Swindon’s 1-0 loss to Barnsley at the County Ground.

Forced to partner midfielder Michael Doughty in the centre of defence on the road at Port Vale last week, the Town captain was unlucky to be on the losing side.

With Thompson maintaining his place at centre-back in the absence of Raphael Branco, it was little surprise that Swindon’s finest defensive display of the season came with their main man at the back in situ.

Whenever Gillingham managed to get in behind right-back Bradley Barry, Thompson mopped up with assured confidence but it was when the hosts broke on the counter that the defender showed his true class, making use of his athleticism and pin-point tackling accuracy to kill a host of attacks stone-dead.

Post-match, County Ground chief Luke Williams praised his captain’s versatility and admitted that he continues to be surprised by the Town academy product’s talent.

How Williams must dream of a back line made up of Nathan Thompsons.