Michael Flynn said that he put a lot of effort into researching Williams Kokolo before deciding to bring him into Swindon Town.

After having been on trial with Town for the past few weeks, Kokolo’s stay at the County Ground was made a permanent one in a deal until January ahead of Saturday’s 4-2 defeat against Stockport County, a game in which he came straight in to start and played 74 minutes.

Kokolo was accused of attacking a woman at her home after meeting her on a dating site but was unanimously acquitted of three counts of rape after a trial on Thursday 15 July.

Flynn said that he put in a lot of time researching the French defender before taking the decision to bring him in and is confident in the character that he signed.

He said: “I have done everything I possibly can [to find out about him], apart from living with him.

“I have thought about the reputation of the club, when I read about it and got further into it, he was found not guilty and that is it.”

After Kokolo was confirmed as being on trial with the club, Flynn said that he had “spoken to a lot of people who have worked with him and who know him.”

Kokolo came straight in to start ahead of Tyrese Shade during Saturday’s game against Stockport, lasting 74 minutes.

That was the former AS Monaco youth player’s first action in a competitive game for 441 days, a 4-3 League One defeat for Burton Albion against Cambridge United in which he was substituted at half-time.

The last time he played a full 90 minutes was in a 2-0 win 18 months ago for Burton against Rotherham United, and Flynn felt he made a strong start to his Swindon career.

He said: “I thought he [Kokolo] had a very solid debut, obviously, we had to take him off because he was tiring, and I didn’t want to risk any injury.

“He has just come in and he has a good pedigree, he has played for some good clubs, and he is one that we thought would strengthen that area of the pitch.

“We have got Reece [Devine] and Tariq [Uwakwe] who are both going to be out for eight-ish weeks, we needed to do that [sign Kokolo] and thankfully we were able to get it done.”