SWINDON Town manager David Flitcroft believes that new signing Donal McDermott helped change the course of their behind-closed doors pre-season friendly against Oldham Athletic.

The former Manchester City youngster came off the bench in the second-half in the 1-1 draw that saw fit-again Ellis Iandolo cancel out Aaron Amadi-Holloway’s first-half opener after the break yesterday afternoon .

However, Flitcroft, who takes his players to Salisbury on Monday night before a five-night training camp in Portugal starting on Tuesday, was pleased with how his 27-year-old performed.

“Donal McDermott coming on really changed the game and he carried the game forward,” Flitcroft told the official club website.

“He understands what I want, he plays with enthusiasm, he plays with a drive, he plays with a commitment and he’s a man’s man.

“He came onto the pitch and his aggressive nature just changed the game and gave us that punch we needed.

“The first 10 minutes caught us out and that was probably because of the two other games and we went into game with that mind-set.

“Once that shook us into a storm, we then got control of the game at times but we didn’t have enough intent in the first-half which disappointed me.”

The new Town chief was also delighted to see Iandolo back in action following surgery on a groin problem.

“The club supported him fantastically and sent him over to Germany,” he added. “He’s probably three days in-front of himself and we thought his first game was going to be Salisbury on Monday, but we managed to get him on the pitch and he joined in well.

“Ellis is a bright player and one when I took the job and did my homework, he was one that I really wanted to work with."

“We’ll have him for most of the pre-season now.”

The Town chief was also pleased to see a number of players increased their workload during the game with Oldham.

“We’re live tracking the boys, we’re live tracking the data and we kept getting messages on that they were in the thresholds we wanted them to be,” he added.

“A few of the boys have got 90 minutes, which is fantastic, and the rest of the boys are getting there.

“It was a great test and the marks are good from the data and the output. We’re on target for where I want to be.”