Swindon Town rivalled Barrow AFC for the signature of one of their January additions but chose to go in a different direction.

Cole Stockton swapped Burton Albion for Holker Street on loan during the January transfer window and he has hit the ground running at Barrow, netting seven goals in 13 appearances since arriving to help keep the Cumbrians firmly in the League Two play-off race.

Stockton had been struggling for game time at the Pirelli Stadium and became an option for League Two clubs hoping to restore him to his Morecambe form.

Swindon were in the market for strikers during January after the departure of Jake Young back to his parent club Bradford City and ended up bringing in Aaron Drinan to fill the void left by the 16-goal striker, as well as adding four other attacking players in an attempt to revive a stagnating season.

When discussing this weekend’s opposition for Swindon, Gunning was full of praise for the 30-year-old and let slip that they had held interest in him during the transfer window before opting for Drinan instead.

The 25-year-old has netted three times in his seven starts since arriving at the County Ground on Deadline Day as after recovering from the injury that plagued the end of his time at Leyton Orient he has become a pivotal member of the Town starting line-up.

He said: “Barrow mix it up really well, they are a proper League Two team, they have really good strikers and a solid base behind it.

“They are just consistent and that is the thing at this level, if you are consistent with what you are doing then you have got half a chance.

“I think the realism is that their budget is not what you think because it is Barrow you get reeled in by that, but with what Telford was on at Crawley, he was one of the highest-paid strikers in the league.

“Stockton, we did look at him ourselves and we were in for him and Drinan, but we preferred Drinz instead.

“They [Stockton and Telford] are a handful, it doesn’t get a lot better than them with the goals they have scored at this level and their performances, it is going to be a tough day.

“No [we weren’t priced out on Stockton], it was just a choice between those two and Drinan has done brilliantly so I don’t think you can complain with Drinan.”