Joel Cotterill said that he always wanted to remain at Swindon Town despite the potential of Swansea City recalling him late in the January transfer window.
Swindon ended up enjoying a very quiet transfer deadline day with only one signing with Connor Ripley arriving from Port Vale.
However, there had been some nervousness during the last two weeks of the window as Swansea considered bringing back Cotterill to be part of Luke Williams’ squad after the departure of Matt Grimes to Coventry City.
Moves later in the window for Lewis O’Brien and Melker Widell meant that Cotterill was able to remain at Swindon, and quickly proved his worth with a stunning strike in a man-of-the-match performance against The Valiants on Saturday.
After the game, Cotterill said that his intention was always to remain at Swindon despite the possibility of moving back to the Championship club.
He said: "It was close. I think that the situation with Matt Grimes going was unexpected from the club and the fans.
“But I spoke to my agent and they said that it was potentially a late option but their [Swansea’s] preference was for me to stay here and continue playing as many games as I possibly can.
“I couldn’t agree with them more, I wanted to stay here to progress myself; I went out on loan last year but I didn’t quite have the experience that I wanted. This year has helped me massively.
“I would not say that it was a tight call but it was a possibility and I am happy with the decision for me to stay here and that the gaffer [Ian Holloway] wanted me to stay here.”
Despite the uncertainty of where he would be playing his football during the second half of the campaign, Cotterill said that he always remained focused on delivering for Town.
He said: “In my head I was just thinking that if it happens then it happens but I was not going to let that affect me going into a game whether I was starting or on the bench.
“I was kind of left in the dark with it all, I didn’t have any idea what was going on and I was just waiting for the call.
“I spoke to the gaffer about it when he said it was a possibility but I just wanted to focus on my game and what I could do here.”
