Swindon Town loanee Joe Tomlinson has revealed why he wears the number seven shirt despite playing at left back.

Chiseldon-born Tomlinson returned to the County Ground last month from Peterborough United on a temporary deal which will last until the summer.

It is the 22-year-old's second stint at the League Two club after signing for Town last January too.

He was awarded the EFL Young Player of the Month award for February 2022, contributing with three assists and a goal across the month, before a knee injury curtailed his stay and ruled him out of Town's run to the play-off semi-finals.

A year on and Tomlinson is impressing again as he made his second debut for the club on Saturday, scoring in a 3-0 win over Harrogate Town.

But traditionalists were left to wonder why a left-back should wear the number seven shirt.

Tomlinson provided the interesting reason when quizzed by the Adver.

“Growing up, my first ever team was Wroughton Juniors which is obviously a local team to here and that [the number seven] was my first ever number playing football,” said Tomlinson, who was never on Town's books as a youngster.

“There’s not many times when that number is available when you go into a new team, so going into a team and that number being available as it was in my case, it was what I wanted to do.”

Ben Gladwin was Town’s previous number seven but the midfielder departed the club in January to join Crawley Town, following former manager Scott Lindsey to the Broadfield Stadium.

“I came in and Glads [Ben Gladwin] obviously left a couple weeks before me,” he said.

“Ben Gladwin is a fantastic player and he has done fantastic things for this football club so I texted him and spoke to him just to make sure it was all alright with him.

“But yes, he came back and said it was brilliant.”

Tomlinson was full of praise for the departed Gladwin, recognising the midfielder’s impact on his own experience while at Swindon last season.

“He is a player who helped me massively last year and I have a lot of respect for him,” he said.

“Hopefully I can continue to fulfil the shirt and his boots.”

Although he is only on loan at the County Ground, Swindon will have the option of making Tomlinson’s transfer permanent in the summer.