IT’S fair to say that Jon-Paul McGovern’s memories of Victoria Park are mixed.

The midfielder marked his full Town debut in September 2007 with a superb chip to earn a 1-1 draw against Hartlepool, but 13 months later was left kicking his heels on the substitutes’ bench as his colleagues threw away a three-goal lead to draw in the north east.

And as Swindon make the long trek to the League One strugglers tomorrow, McGovern is determined to play a key role in a victory this time.

“I was sitting down for most of the one last season, so got a good view of it,” he said.

“Coxy (Simon Cox) got a hat-trick with some great goals, but they came back in the second half with a very good comeback.

“The fans really got behind them and it is a tight pitch, so that’s something we will have to take note of.

“But the boys are going into it confident, playing some good football and there’s no reason why we can’t win it.

“We want to go there and win. You see the results around us and everyone starts whispering and talking about it.

“It’s one that we want to win and one that we definitely will win.

“We want to get three points, get back down the road again and into training for the Leeds game.”

And with Town heading into the business end of the season and promotion within touching distance, McGovern revealed there is excitement rather than nerves running through the County Ground dressing room.

“It’s nine big games for us and we’re all looking forward to it,” he said.

“But it’s just one game at a time and when we win that one then we move on to the next.

“Things are very different this year. Last season we were always looking behind us thinking who was winning and how many points away (from relegation) we were.

“But this time we are looking forward to Saturday thinking how far we can go in the league.”

Hartlepool will include former Town wide man Andy Monkhouse in their starting line-up, and the 29-year-old has a nasty habit of scoring against his former employees.

But McGovern has worked out the perfect game plan to keep him quiet.

“He won’t (score) tomorrow, because I’ll try and kick him as hard as possible!” he joked.

“He is a good player who does well for them, coming inside, creating a lot of chances and scoring the odd goal. Hopefully though we can look after him this weekend and score a few ourselves.”