JACK Payne says he wants to stay at Swindon Town this season as he looks to make the County Ground his home following years of jumping from club to club.

The former Lincoln City man admitted years of flitting between teams has left him frustrated, and after conversations over the summer with his agent and family, Payne says he wants to have the chance to lay down some roots at one club for the first time.

Many fans did not expect Payne to still be at Swindon due to the midfielder having a clause in his contract which stated he could leave this summer for free following Town’s relegation last term.

But the 26-year-old is adamant he wants to stay in Wiltshire as he aims to learn lessons from a nomadic career up to this point.

He said: “I fully expect to still be here, and I’m fully focused on the task ahead.

“There have been opportunities for me to leave, but I feel like the mistake I’ve made in the past is that I’ve been at a lot of different clubs.

“I want to stay at a club, I want to settle, I want to make a club my home, and I want to be successful at one club.

“Last season was horrible, and I have to take some responsibility for that, but a lot has changed since then.

“I was a part of it last year, and I want to help the team get back to where they belong.”

Since Payne left Southend United for Huddersfield Town in 2016, the midfielder has failed to spend more than a year at one club following a series of contrasting loan spells.

A move to Lincoln in 2019 threatened to bloom into something more long-term, but Swindon came calling at the end of the season following a frustrating period under Danny Cowley and Payne felt the move back down south would help reignite his career.

Now at a reinvigorated Swindon – due to the recent takeover by Clem Morfuni – Payne is excited to be a part of the club’s desired journey back to the third tier and beyond.

He said: “The new owner has been a massive factor in me staying. It wasn’t a case of make or break for me, but it is massive.

“At the end of the day, I want to be happy, and I want to be at a club that’s going in the right direction.

“Before the new people came in, it looked like it was going the opposite way. But the fact that we’re going in the right direction now is exciting.”