SWINDON Town have been dealt another January-transfer-window blow with the exit of Romoney Crichlow. 

The centre-back was recalled by parent club Huddersfield Town today and unveiled as a loan signing by Plymouth Argyle a matter of hours later.

Crichlow joined the Robins on loan in August and was one of many signings made at the 11th hour by head coach Ben Garner and director of football Ben Chorley after the club's messy takeover battle was resolved.

The 22-year-old soon established himself in the back three, making 19 starts and scoring two goals in defeats to Carlisle United and Colchester United.

Crichlow was a regular starter until he suffered an ankle injury in October, and Town were hammered 4-1 at Leyton Orient when he returned to the side. It proved to be his last start as he was on the bench for last Friday's FA Cup defeat to Manchester City, replacing Ben Gladwin with 19 minutes to go.

The club said in a statement on its website: "We thank Romoney for his efforts during his time at SN1, and we wish him all the best for the future."

He will now join Plymouth's League One promotion challenge.

Argyle's manager Steven Schumacher said: “He’s a great signing for us, he is a young player who has been on loan at Swindon Town.

“He has had a great first part of the season with Swindon and we feel he will be able to add some real competition to our squad.

“He is a good athlete who has good quality and a really nice left foot. I am sure he’ll be a good addition to the squad.”

Pilgrims director of football Neil Dewsnip added: "We are delighted to have him with us.

"We have watched him play a lot for Swindon and been impressed.

"We hope he is going to make a positive impression at Home Park over the second half of the season."

Crichlow is the latest of three loan signings to leave the County Ground so far this month, with winger Alex Gilbert rejoining Brentford and Aston Villa calling back the highly-rated Kaine Kesler-Hayden. 

Gilbert had only made eight appearances for the Reds this year, but Kesler-Hayden was a vital cog in the wheel as Town look to mount a promotion challenge over the second half of the season.

Head coach Ben Garner confirmed in the wake of Tuesday night's 3-2 defeat at Mansfield Town that the club is looking to bring in more players after the signings of keeper Emmanual Idem and defender Jake O'Brien. 

But he added that it was 'not easy' because of a transfer embargo placed on the club. Town were sanctioned by the EFL last summer for failing to comply with regulations before Clem Morfuni took over. 

They broke regulations including; failure to provide audited annual accounts, annual accounts not filed with Companies House, defaults in payments to HMRC, non-payment to football creditors, and failure to submit SCMP (Salary Cap Management Protocol) calculation.

Town will therefore no longer be able to pay a transfer fee for a player and must sign players who are either not registered with another club or who arrive on loan until all of the breaches have been resolved.