FORMER Southampton striker Marian Pahars does not appear to be Town-bound despite a flurry of speculation linking him with a Wiltshire switch, writes JON RITSON.

The Latvian is another high-profile name being bandied around as anyone and everyone with a link to Dennis Wise is seemingly earmarked' to sign for Swindon in the next few weeks.

Chief executive Mark Devlin has already said that Steve Claridge, Andy Morrell and Richard Shaw were not names that Wise had mentioned to him.

And as for the prospect of Pahars signing on the dotted line at the County Ground, Devlin has told the Advertiser that it appears to be a case of stretching the list of inaccurate rumours to four.

Pahars certainly isn't a player manager and chief executive have discussed.

In answer to whether Wise was lining up an imminent swoop for the 29-year-old, he said: "Not that I know of."

Pahars was released by Southampton at the end of last season after seven years with the Championship outfit.

Much of that spell has seen him afflicted by injuries, indeed his last visit to the County Ground ended painfully, the experienced forward hobbling off after a crunching tackle from Rory Fallon during a 2-1 pre-season win for the Saints in July 2004 the decisive goal coming from World Cup-bound Peter Crouch.

Pahars admitted that George Burley's decision to release him had hurt.

He said: "I was crying when the manager told me.

"I did not agree with his decision but there is nothing I can do about it.

"There has been some interest from a few clubs here and back home but I have not thought about that."

The Town box office will be open today between 9am and 3pm to deal with early bird season ticket applications. Around 10 per cent of tickets purchased so far this summer are from new' supporters.