SWINDON Town midfielder Anthony Grant says Arsenal loanee Matt Smith is ‘a joy to play with.’

The young Gunners prospect has caught the eye of many a Town fan already while snaring a couple of man of the match awards from Adver Sport due to his confidence on the ball and varied passing ability.

Following a difficult debut against West Bromwich Albion under-23s, Smith has adapted quickly to professional football and has arguably outshone last season’s Swindon Advertiser player of the year in the first few games.

Grant admitted he has been incredibly impressed with the former Arsenal under-23s captain and is looking forward to enhancing the pair’s already-tidy working relationship as the season progresses.

Grant said: “He (Smith) is a pleasure to play with. We get on well on and off the pitch too, and I’m there to help him and all the young boys.

“He plays in my position, so I can help him, but he’s a very good young player who likes to pass forward, get on the ball, and express himself. He’s a joy to play with.

“We’ve got belief in everyone’s ability here, so if we can keep pushing each other and we don’t have too many injuries, hopefully we can push up the table.”

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Victory on Saturday against Burton Albion pushed Town’s points tally onto six out of a possible nine following a couple of early cup exits.

Grant revealed those defeats against Charlton Athletic and West Brom under-23s were not taken lightly, and warnings were sent out inside the changing room to not expect regular defeats this campaign.

He said: “Last year, we were used to winning and that’s what we said we needed to get back to after the first game against Charlton.

“One of the boys said after that game that this is a winning-mentality group, so get used to winning games.

“We’ve been a bit up and down since, but we want to win and put on a show.

“If we’ve got to win games ugly, then we’ll do that, but against Burton I thought we played well and hopefully the fans that watched it were impressed.”