AS THE world celebrates the return of the greatest movie franchise of all time in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we witnessed an awakening of our own at the County Ground last Saturday.

In short glimpses over the 90 minutes you could see a much better Swindon Town side wanting to break out and play some of the football we witnessed last season.

It was still nowhere near the complete performance we used to enjoy, but the first goal against Rochdale especially would have made Town fans reminisce.

One man who didn’t experience the highs of last season and has helped Town out of the bottom four is defender Adam El-Abd.

Since his arrival he’s gone about his job unnoticed and put in some decent displays at the back. But in the last two games the defender has shown his worth in abundance.

As the club confronts its loan predicament in January, by reducing seven players to the regulated five allowed in your matchday 18, it’s clear El-Abd joining the club on a permanent basis is a no-brainer.

His Championship-size wage with Bristol City may be an issue, but if a deal can be reached he would be a solid signing going into the second half of the season.

Another player the club should try and sign next month is Lawrence Vigouroux. The young goalkeeper has impressed and is already accustomed to a large amount of change.

A full-time move is in his best interests if he wants to develop and, most importantly, play on a regular basis. If he needs an example he just needs to look to his predecessor, Wes Foderingham.

A player who is most certainly ours and has shocked many with his displays in an unfamiliar position this season is Bradley Barry.

After arriving in the summer as a prospect for the future, Barry has found himself a first-team regular thanks to Nathan Thompson’s ongoing injury problems.

On Saturday the former Brighton man’s defence-splitting pass set up Fabien Robert to open the scoring.

After being thrown into the deep end as a professional footballer, he has grown into a good League One player and become an important part of Martin Ling’s plans.

Follow me on Twitter @danwjonson

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