STAND-IN skipper Raphael Branco declared Swindon Town’s first win in 13 games was a reward for the hard work the squad had been putting in to turn around their poor form.

Not since the win at Crewe back in September had Branco been on the winning side and his pleasure at helping Town pick up a vital three points was evident in his goal celebrations.

The Brazilian defender eased the pressure around the County Ground when he turned on a rebounded effort from Jonathan Obika to put Town ahead in the second half. It was his first goal of the season and the first from a Swindon defender too.

Swindon needed Nicky Ajose to double their tally to make the game safe, especially after Jordan Clarke pulled one back for Scunthorpe, but the Brazilian was rewarded for his efforts at both end of the pitch with the man of the match award.

A passionate and likeable figure, Branco came to speak to the press afterwards proudly clutching the champagne prize he received for his efforts, but spoke of more work to be done.

“We still have a long way to go but we did the first step today,” he told the local media.

“The season starts today, a new manager, new staff coming in and we have such a good team.

“(The win) is massive, massive and it is going to change everything and give the boys a lot of confidence.

“It was for all the boys who have been working really hard but not getting a result, for Luke (Williams) who has been doing outstanding work with us over the last month and Martin (Ling) now.

“I thought we deserved that two weeks ago against Coventry, we then played Wigan and deserved at least a point and things didn’t go our way in the FA Cup last week.

“We did everything today and we just needed this game to get the confidence back.

“Things will start to go in the right way now.

“It is very important (to be out of bottom four). Last four games we have been playing well but not been getting the results, but today we got the result and it is going to give us the confidence we needed.”