SWINDON Town manager David Flitcroft has hailed new signing Kaiyne Woolery as a ‘forward thinking step’ for the club and has thanked chairman Lee Power for getting the deal over the line.

It was not cheap securing the services of the 22-year-old from League One Wigan Athletic, with Power having to splash £350,000, the sixth highest fee paid by a League Two club for a player.

However, having had an eye on the player from his time with the Latics and Bolton Wanderers before that, Flitcroft is sure that a player of his quality is worth every penny and hopes it will continue to keep the momentum from Saturday’s 2-1 win away at Carlisle United flowing.

“With Luke Norris and Harry Smith, I think we have got the physical presence up front,” he said, after Woolery penned a three-year deal at the County Ground.

“What I felt the team has needed is a cutting edge and real pace.

“It’s just been an absolute waiting game, and one that, certainly from the chairman’s point of view, was a persistent game.

“Those strikers are ten-a-penny, there’s not many about and if there are some about, they are at a Championship club but the chairman from day one, in backing me in everything I have asked for, whether that is staff or recruitment or infrastructure, the chairman has done that.

“While I have been busy buying the 10 players I have signed, the chairman has been busy behind the scenes working with David Sharpe and Paul Cook and Kaiyne’s agent to get the deal over the line.

“It’s been a hell of a lot of work and I can only thank the chairman for the persistence he shown and the commitment he has shown to me as a manager and to the football club.

“We are trying to get a momentum and a feel-good factor and hopefully it has shown the intent of what we are trying to do at Swindon Town.”

Only Peterborough United, Notts County and Shrewsbury Town have paid larger fees for players in League Two but Flitcroft will not let that affect the player and having a history of developing forwards, he is confident he can turn Woolery into a real asset for the football club.

“It’s how you handle that,” he added. “He’s not the finished article and it’s our job to get him scoring goals and to get him scoring goals regularly.

“We’ve bought potential.

“I’ve been very lucky in my past to have worked with some fantastic strikers and helped a lot of them and Kaiyne is another one.

“He saw the potential of a big club and the potential to work in this environment.

“We’ve beaten some good competitors to his signing.”

Woolery is also aware of his own potential and hopes he can provide the goals to have Swindon pushing for promotion this term.

“I wouldn’t say I’m known for scoring lots of goals yet, I’ve got the potential to and, hopefully, that’s what I’m coming here to do,” he said.

“It’s such a big club and they are looking to go for promotion and the manager has told me his plans for the club and I’m buying into it.

“I wouldn’t have left (Wigan) if I didn’t want to come here. I still had another two years left on my deal so it’s a choice I wanted to make.

“I’d like to say I’m an exciting player. I like to run in behind and stretch teams and hopefully cause the defenders a few problems.”