SWINDON Town legend Shaun Taylor will be keeping a close eye on events at the County Ground today as his friend and former colleague Martin Ling takes charge of his first home game as Swindon Town manager.

Alongside the newly-installed Town chief, cult hero Taylor – an uncompromising central defender in his day – earned his place as one of Swindon’s most cherished alumni by being part of the side that famously earned promotion to the Premier League for their first and only season in the top flight in 1993.

Taylor, who now works as a coach in Plymouth Argyle’s youth set-up, was Ling’s number two during his spell in charge of Torquay United and is backing the Swindon boss, whose team go looking to bring about a turnaround in their fortunes against Scunthorpe United, to lift the spirits of Town’s crestfallen troops.

“I haven’t spoken to Martin since he came to the club but I know him very well and I’m going to be keeping an eye on the result at Swindon,” former County Ground skipper Taylor told the Advertiser.

“Obviously, whatever happens in the dressing room, stays in the dressing room but I’ve very rarely heard Martin shout.

“He’ll speak to players individually and he’s a very good man manager. I’d back him to get those players back playing the way they should be and get the club away from what has been a disappointing season for them.

“It’s well known that Martin had his problems and I probably know a lot more about those problems than most but I think that it’s a good job for him.

“He’ll want to get a grasp of things straight away and I think he’ll want to do well. Hopefully he can improve things and there’s no better time to start that than in his first home game.

“When the two of us were at Torquay, we always used to look forward to playing Swindon.

“It was the season when Paolo Di Canio was in charge (2011-2012) and they deservedly won the league that season but we beat them at home (1-0 in December 2011) and then got beat (2-0 in March 2012) when we went there.

“I’m happy he got the job at Swindon and I’ll definitely be looking out for the result – hopefully it’s the right result for Martin.”