RYAN McGivern is confident he will be ready to answer the call when required after following his new manager by parachuting into the middle of Swindon Town's promotion fight.

The 25-times capped Northern Ireland international's arrival on a short-term contract until the end of the season was confirmed yesterday, McGivern having trained with Town last week before the formalities were wrapped up following boss Phil Brown's own arrival in Wiltshire.

With one senior appearance for Manchester City to his name, as well as spells at Leicester City and Crystal Palace on his CV, the Newry-born defender will add useful experience to a Town rear-guard shorn of skipper Olly Lancashire and fellow central defenders Matt Preston and Dion Conroy.

McGivern was released by League One side Northampton Town in early January but despite his hiatus, feels he can add a valuable contribution as Town chase the prize they crave in the final 10 games of the campaign.

“I got a call early last week and got the opportunity to come down and train for a couple of days before the manager was appointed,” said the 28-year-old.

"I did okay and then over the weekend things developed and I came back down and managed to get things sorted, so am just really glad to be here.

“I have had a stop-start last 12 months. I left Northampton in January and this is an opportunity to come and hopefully get some game time under my belt and help the team push for the goal, which is promotion.

“That was obviously the attraction. I have spoken to a couple of clubs in previous months but didn’t really feel it was right for me but when the opportunity arose to come here, it is a massive club in the league and pushing for promotion.

"There are 10 games to go so it is a 10-game season for me and if I am called upon, hopefully I will be ready to lend a hand and help the team achieve their goals.”

Brown said of his new player: “I thought we needed a fresh face in defence. Ryan was in the pipeline. I knew who he was and I tried to get him on one occasion beforehand.

“Ryan’s got a decent stature, played at this level before. He’ll have to work on his match fitness but there’s everything to like about Ryan coming into this situation with a shortage of defenders.”

McGivern himself added: "I feel fit. I had a few sessions last week and since I left Northampton, I have been keeping myself in good enough shape. We had another good session this (Thursday) morning with the manager and hopefully when the time comes if I am called upon, I will be able to do myself justice.

“It can be testing and I am sure for a lot of players it is. The good thing is that when the window does shut, clubs can re-sign players that are free agents so it has worked out okay for me at the moment and there is a great opportunity to me to come here and hopefully do well and see where the season takes us.”