SWINDON Town midfielder Matt Palmer believes footballers should be allowed to celebrate properly after a goal goes in and said it would be “weird” if players didn’t.

Due to the rising cases of Covid-19 among footballers, there had been calls to ban players from hugging and over celebrating when a goal goes in.

While Palmer admitted he can understand why those remarks were made, he does not support the message and says it would make the game feel even stranger than it already does.

He said: “When you score – that’s what you play football for, isn’t it?

“I can understand why people from the outside are telling us not to celebrate, but it’s so difficult to not do that if we score.

“It’s weird as it is with no fans in grounds, so if we didn’t celebrate when a goal goes in, that would be even weirder.

“We are being tested regularly and following the protocols, so I think it’s fine to carry on as we are.

“I understand the over-the-top celebrations are maybe not the best thing to do. It’s a difficult one, but I still we should still celebrate.”

Meanwhile, Palmer enjoyed a fine loan spell at Wigan during the first half of the season after being frozen out by previous manager, Richie Wellens.

Palmer played 10 times while at the DW Stadium and was one of John Sheridan’s stand-out performers in the brief spell they shared.

The 25-year-old spoke fondly of his time in Lancashire during Thursday’s pre-match press conference, and said he is hopeful of bringing the form he displayed up there back to Wiltshire.

Now back at the County Ground, the Derby-born midfielder sees his contract expire in the summer.

But before his attentions turn to sorting out his future, Palmer is keen to maintain his focus and put in a string of performances that help keep Swindon in League One.

He said: “Whenever your contract is coming to an end, you want to be performing week in, week out.

“I just want to come back to Swindon and bring the form that I was showing at Wigan with me.

“Towards the end of my loan at Wigan, we were one of the form teams, so hopefully I can bring that back to Swindon.

“I want to produce performances that first and foremost help Swindon stay up, and then whatever happens in the future happens in the future.

“You shouldn’t concentrate too much on that side of things, you’ve just got to concentrate on performing every Saturday.”