DEFENDER Tom Broadbent expressed his relief at realising the frustrating 1-0 home loss to Crawley last month was likely an anomaly and is looking forward to claiming more wins in his first half-season under Richie Wellens.

Since joining Swindon on January 18, Broadbent has won three of his four games while playing at the heart of Town’s defence, with the only blemish on his record coming in the disappointing home defeat to Gabriele Cioffi’s men.

After making his debut in the 2-1 away win over in-form Tranmere, the 27-year-old expected victories like that to be the norm and with further wins against high-flying MK Dons and Forest Green in the bag, Broadbent was even more perplexed by Town’s inconsistent domestic showing this season.

With a great deal of positive momentum building at the County Ground in recent weeks, the ex-Army man wants his new team to turn their home ground into a fortress and climb into the play-off places, starting with in-form Grimsby this afternoon.

He said: “When I came in the team, we beat Tranmere and then lost the next one against Crawley and we were pretty poor at home.

“After that game I thought ‘I hope we’re not like that all the time at home’ and I was hoping that Tranmere wasn’t a one-off game.

“We went out in the next game and showed that it wasn’t, so everyone is positive at the moment and looking to build on it – hopefully, we can stay consistent ourselves and keep the home form up now.

“Grimsby are similar to us at the moment, they’ve won their last four, so it will be an interesting game.

“We need to win to stay in amongst the play-offs, but hopefully if results go our way then that will put us about three points off it, so it’s looking pretty good.”

The former Lance Bombardier, who is originally from Hampshire and had previously been stationed at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Larkhill, is pleased with his start under Richie Wellens and thanked both of his defensive partners for the part they have played.

Broadbent has played two games a piece with Luke Woolfenden and Dion Conroy at centre-back and admitted that their positive performances have helped him settle in to the side even quicker than he would have expected.

Broadbent said: “I feel settled here already. I’ve had a few games now – four games, three wins – so hopefully we can build on that. It’s about keeping a clean sheet all the time for me.

“It’s been really positive since I joined. Since Dion has come in, he’s done really well.

“I got comfortable with (Luke Woolfenden), but Dion has come in and done well, so it’s made it a lot easier for me too.”