Swindon Town trialist Jai Rowe has opted to re-join National League club Boston United after spending the last week in Wiltshire.

After being one of a number of League Two clubs linked with Rowe earlier this summer, Swindon decided to take a closer look at the defender during pre-season and brought him in as a trialist for friendly wins against Melksham Town and Southampton under-21s.

The defender was a key player for Boston last season as he helped drive them to promotion to the National League and attracted the attention of teams higher up the ladder, including Doncaster Rovers and Newport County according to Football Insiders’ Pete O’Rourke, after dropping down following earlier spells with Scunthorpe United and Aldershot Town.

However, the 22-year-old has moved back to Boston having moved on from Swindon after last Friday’s game at Southampton, re-joining the club where he won the club’s Player of the Season award for last season, ahead of their first season back in the National League under former Swindon man Ian Culverhouse.

Rowe featured as both a centre-back and right-back during his matches with Swindon, although he is naturally an attacking right-sided defender, and earned some praise from Mark Kennedy for his performance at Melksham last Tuesday.

He said: “I am not a huge fan of trialists, to be honest, but we have had good players in and I thought Jai did really well tonight, I really liked him.

“I thought he acquitted himself really well tonight, it is unfair to discuss him without speaking to him and other people, but if good players are available, as much as I don’t particularly like trialists, then we will have a look.

“Sometimes they can help us and we can help them, an opportunity to get minutes, train, and show us if there is something to do.

“I would say to any trialist that is coming in, ring your agent and tell the whole world where you are playing on Saturday, so you have seven or eight options rather than just the one, but we would always feel that if we can get people in the door then we would have an opportunity to do something with that.”

Swindon have already signed Tunmise Sobowale as a right wing-back this summer and have Joel McGregor impressing in pre-season after signing his first professional contract in June, both of whom would have been competing with Rowe had he earned a deal with the club.