SWINDON Town striker Harry McKirdy believes he will always make a difference in games as long as he is enjoying himself on the pitch.

Last season’s top scorer was speaking ahead of Town’s first home game of the season on Saturday – a tough fixture against one of the favourites for promotion, Salford City.

McKirdy found the net in a 2-1 defeat to Salford at the County Ground back in April, and the 25-year-old is keen to go one better in helping his team pick up their first three points of the season this time around.

But explaining that he is not one for setting specific goal-scoring targets, Town’s number 11 said he simply wants to make a noticeable impact every time he is on the pitch.

McKirdy said: “I think the key for me this season is just to enjoy myself. If I’m enjoying myself and I’m in a good place, then I know I will affect games in a positive way.

“That’s the key, so I don’t want to set myself the target of 20 goals because there are 46 games, and that means there are at least 26 weeks where I’m going home unhappy.

“It’s about taking it game by game. I want to score every time I’m on the pitch, I want to win the game, and I want to be the reason that we have won the game.

“It’s just about taking it game by game and doing what I can that week.”

McKirdy will attempt to lead a lift in mood around the County Ground after the first game of the 2022-23 campaign ended with what the 25-year-old called an “embarrassing” 3-0 defeat to Harrogate Town.

The striker has called on fans to show patience against Salford if he and the rest of Scott Lindsey’s squad do not manage an early breakthrough.

Previewing Saturday’s game, McKirdy said: “I understand it’s not easy for the fans at the moment. We lost players in the summer, we went out of the play-offs in a sad way.

“It might not be exciting for them, they’ve waited six weeks for football to come back and then we delivered that last week.

“Some people will be excited for Saturday, some might not. But just stick with us because there are 45 games to go, and I think we had four points after three games last season.

“We’re still in a position where we can match or beat that, so it’s not the end of the world. We have a lot of time to turn things around, so just stay patient and try to enjoy Saturday.”