SWINDON Town striker Nicky Ajose is looking to prove himself once again after joining on loan from Charlton Athletic.

Having seen his career go stagnant at Leeds United, the 25-year-old was thrown a lifeline at Town last season, a club he had enjoyed a fruitful loan period at previously.

Having taken a pay cut of almost 75 per cent to fit into chairman Lee Power’s wage structure, Ajose blossomed again at the County Ground, claiming the club’s golden boot with 25 goals in all competitions.

That return sparked major interest from teams in the Championship but the Manchester United youth product opted for a move to fellow League One side Charlton Athletic, with ambitions of firing them straight back up.

However, having been bought into the club at the same time as Russell Slade, Ajose found his chances limited once Slade was axed just 16 games into the campaign, in the wake of a 3-0 drubbing at the County Ground.

With new boss Karl Robinson coming in, Ajose soon realised he wasn’t in the plans moving forward and jumped at the chance to return to the comfort blanket of Wiltshire.

“As soon as I realised I wasn’t going to be flavour of the month at Charlton, it was a pretty obvious choice,” he told the Adver.

“I get on really well with Lee (Power, Town chairman) and Luke (Williams, head coach) anyway so it didn’t take too much to get that sorted.

“I went there with dreams of getting promoted and it was a difficult start to the season for everyone at Charlton.

“There has not been anyone who has been really outstanding, we are in the middle of the table and I have probably got more flak than most and I have still managed to nick seven goals.

“I probably wasn’t deployed to suit me best.

“When you go to big clubs, you have to adapt and that has not quite worked out how I wanted.

“I wasn’t in the squad for a game and once that starts happening, you kind of know really.

“The new manager (Robinson) has come in and has been really good to be honest and I like him a lot. He has got good ideas and training is really good but unfortunately, he had other people to do the job so to speak.”

Now back at the County Ground until the end of the season, one of seven loan signings on Swindon’s books, Ajose is determined to rekindle the form he found last season.

In a difficult spell at The Valley, Ajose was still able to find the back of the net six times in 17 league starts, more than Town’s current strike force combined.

And while Ajose came in for criticism from some sections of the Swindon fan base following his departure that he had little to his game other than his goals, he is keen to prove those people wrong.

“As I have seen in football, you have never quite cracked it,” he added.

“If I was going to prove myself, I thought I might have done that last season but obviously not.

“I don’t think by me coming to Swindon and hopefully doing well and getting us up the league is going to change anybody’s mind dramatically at Charlton.

“I didn’t want to leave but now I am at Swindon, my focus is fully on the job in hand.

“I’m delighted to be back. I have got three months to play as many times as I can and help the boys.

“I know quite a few lads still there from last season. I am a confident player and I have not changed one bit.

“I believe I should be playing at Charlton and I believe I should be playing at Swindon and scoring goals.

“It is down to me to prove that I am still a good player and five months later, I haven’t turned into a bad player.

“I am hoping that I can come back and show a more rounded player.”

It is anticipated that Ajose will go straight into the team to make his third debut for the club on Sunday against Oxford United and having already missed out on a local derby last weekend, he is hoping to make amends and get off to the perfect start.

“I was trying to push to get it done as soon as possible,” he explained.

“With clubs, it is not down to the players. If it was down to me I would have been here on January 1 and getting as many games as possible.

“I was gutted I missed the Bristol game.

“It is a big game for the players and especially the fans. I have heard it is going to be close to a sell-out so hopefully I can make my third debut in it.”