SCOTT Twine is set to make a return to the team sheet against Northampton Town this afternoon, four weeks after last appearing in a Town shirt.

Twine has ruled himself out of team selection in recent games through injury, but five days with the physio this week has stood the teenager in good stead ahead of Town’s latest League Two fixture against the Cobblers.

Town boss Phil Brown revealed he still wasn’t 100 per cent happy with Twine’s ability to play to his full potential ahead of the club’s fixture on Tuesday night against Crewe.

But progress in the days following Swindon’s one-goal loss has pleased Brown, who admitted he’s likely to include the youngster in the team sheet.

He said: “I had a conversation with Scott (Twine) on Tuesday night, I took him back to a situation I had last year with Kaiyne (Woolery).

“I want the mentality of running through a brick wall when playing on the pitch, but at the same time I want honesty.

“When I put that conversation to Scott he wasn’t quite there.

“He’s about five days with the physio, and he trained fully on Thursday. He’s in the mix to be in the squad on Saturday.”

Meanwhile the club’s recent defensive record is an element of Town’s game that Brown is more than pleased with.

Loan signings Luke Woolfenden and Sid Nelson appear to be winning the 59-year-old over, as is new first choice goalkeeper Luke McCormick.

The trio - together with fellow defensive forces in Kyle Knoyle, Matt Taylor, Olly Lancashire, Joe Romanski - have helped Town concede only four goals in their last seven competitive fixtures.

With Chris Robertson set to return plus Dion Conroy waiting in the wings, the Town boss is understandably pleased with the output from his back four.

He said: “The defensive record is very pleasing.

“The clean sheet mentality of the group is something we’ve worked on in training. I love working with defenders, and getting their bodies on the line.

“Luke (Woolfenden) wants to be a centre half, what we were missing on the right hand side on Tuesday night was that drive to take things forward and force their winger (Charlie Kirk) backwards.

“I had the courage to create as a full back, because I believe that’s where it starts.

“The game is rapidly moving into more quality and technical players than physical players.

“But (on Tuesday night) we had a back four of centre halves.”