Kabongo Tshimanga said he is excited to finally have a proper opportunity to prove himself in the EFL after joining Swindon Town on loan from Peterborough United.

The 27-year-old has a wonderful record in the National League, netting 74 times at that level, but despite spells with MK Dons, Peterborough, and Fleetwood Town, is yet to break his EFL duck.

Tshimanga said that he believes that he has never truly been given a true opportunity to show that his form in the fifth tier will translate in the top four divisions.

He said: “I don’t personally feel like I have had that [chance in the EFL] and the things I have heard from Swindon coming off the interest are really important to me because I need to hit the ground running at this level.

“I just felt [at Peterborough] that I never got a chance, really, that is my personal opinion.

“I just felt that I didn’t get my chance and I needed to be in an environment where I am going to get that and from the feeling I have gotten from speaking to the manager and Gav[in Gunning], who I know quite well, those conversations have been quite positive.

“The interest from Swindon has always been there and that is something I look out for as previous loans or moves haven’t panned out because they have been rushed

“The interest from Swindon has been there for some time now and that goes to show to me that there is a plan in place from Mark Kennedy for the attributes that I possess and he feels I can bring to the team.

“I am excited to be here and hopefully kickstarting my EFL career here.

“Now that I have come here and I should hopefully have that [opportunity] here, people should be able to see what I can do.”

Tshimanga spent the back half of last season on loan at Boreham Wood, scoring seven goals in 16 appearances, and he feels that has put him in a good place to kick on at Swindon.

He said: “If I didn’t have that loan then I think it would have put me at more of a disadvantage with my fitness level.

“I went there and started plenty of games and to go there and get game time will be the building block this season to keep up that form, so I think it will be very important.”