KYLE Knoyle feels he can prove a useful addition to Town’s armoury as manager Phil Brown seeks to sharpen up his side’s attacking instincts.

While Swindon have largely proved a tough nut to crack at the back in recent weeks, Brown made mention of the slightly toothless nature of their offensive efforts following Saturday’s home stalemate against Oldham Athletic.

Having sat out matches against Bury, Yeovil and the Latics following the straight red card picked up at Morecambe at the start of last month, Knoyle is available again and while his right-back duties are primarily defensive, the former West Ham man hopes he can help drive his team forward as well.

The 22 year old was in the process of tying down his position in Brown’s starting line-up before the suspension but, referring to his progress he said: “I have been pleased. I feel like there is always room for improvement in my game and I feel like I can contribute more attacking-wise.

“My game as a full-back is up and down and I feel like on the defensive side I have done well. Going forward I can contribute more in terms of assists and maybe even a goal here or there.

“First and foremost, I’m a defender so we need to go as a collective, get the clean sheet and then we’ve got a base to build on.

“But the way the game is going, full-backs with the attacking side of their game need to contribute as well. It’s something that I’ve been working on.

“It’s down to myself now. I feel like I’ve used the time (suspension) positively. I’ve had to make the most of it so that when I do come back, I come back where I left off and hopefully be better.’’

Notwithstanding an element of frustration at Saturday’s home blank, Knoyle believes the Oldham match did offer a glimpse of how Town have progressed under Brown.

“The team is looking a lot better this season,’’ he added.

“If you take the Oldham game, games like that last season we would have thrown everything at it and then probably would have conceded and then not gone on to get the point we did.

“So you can see how far we’ve come as a group compared to last season. Everyone has chipped in.’’

The former England U18 defender admits the Morecambe red card was a blow as he established himself in Brown’s defensive unit, but added: “I’ve learned from that now and I have to take that into the future.

“I’ve taken a lot of time to think about it and obviously I regret the challenge. I feel like, with the emotion of how the game was going I was just too aggressive with it and that’s cost the team at the time.

Luckily they were able to stick with it and get the win in the end which I was happy with but I was disappointed with the repercussions of the challenge and letting my team down on the day.

“Since then, I’ve had time to reflect on everything and get myself ready for when I do get back. With the red card I’ve missed three games and now it’s just down to myself to get myself back into the team and nail that spot back down.’’

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