Which striker transfer did Swindon Town miss out on?

These were some of the many transfer-related words that Michael Flynn uttered after his side were once again unable to hold onto a half-time lead as Colchester United came from two goals behind to draw at the County Ground.

Swindon are in dire need of many things during this transfer window and chief among them is a striker following the recall of Jake Young and the persistent injury that has kept Rushian Hepburn-Murphy side-lined for much of the campaign.

With this slightly throwaway line about a transfer that could have been in a poorly soundproofed room following another disappointing and maddening result, Flynn laid down a challenge and one that the detective who solved the Milan Misun cold case could not resist getting to the bottom of. Who was this mystery striker? The game is afoot.

The evidence does work in our favour here as we are simply looking for a striker who scored on Saturday, which greatly narrows down our list of suspects.

Beyond this, we have to be looking at a player who does not play regularly, and so would have been likely to have been let go, and also plays for a club at which this goal changes their position within the squad. For example, an academy player scoring in the FA Cup for a Premier League club is unlikely to become a first-team regular off the back of one goal, so unfortunately, we can rule out Norway international and the man with a hall-of-fame name, Oscar Bobb.

With these as our criteria, I have compiled a list of five players who could be our man.

Sinclair Armstrong – Queen’s Park Rangers

We are going to be looking from the lower end of the Championship down for this one and Armstrong’s opener for QPR against Bournemouth puts him on the suspects list. He is probably the least likely of all of these, but he had only started one of the Hoops’ last 14 games in the Championship and so could well have been looking for more football. His reasonable second-tier experience likely means he would be looking to play higher than League Two but I don’t believe he can be ruled out entirely.

Lee Angol – Sutton United

Angol’s is a name that has been mentioned by other amateur sleuths on X and he did end a lengthy goal drought against Plymouth Argyle. However, I am doubtful that Sutton would have wanted to move on from him so soon after appointing Steve Morrison and he has started four of the five games since Matt Gray left. He has played too much of late for me to believe that his starting was a surprise to Flynn.

Ikpeazu scored his first goal of the season (Image: PA)

Uche Ikpeazu – Port Vale

Ikpeazu's inclusion on this list is based to a reasonable extent on the fact that I have wanted Swindon to sign him for years, but he does hit many of the things we are looking for. The 28-year-old has been in and out of the Port Vale line-up this season and previously had not found the back of the net since joining from Konyaspor. He played his second 90 minutes of the campaign during a thrilling three-all draw against Charlton Athletic and scored his first goal in the third tier since 2016. He may have had a few too many starts this season, but he is far from a key figure at Vale Park and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he could move on.

Sonny Cox – Exeter City

These last two are my prime suspects. Cox has spent some time out on loan at Yeovil Town this season but has since returned to being part of the first-team squad for the Grecians. For much of the season, he has been used as an impact sub, before starting three of Exeter’s last four games. Following the signing of Luke Harris, Gary Caldwell might have been thinking of getting him more experience out on loan in the EFL. Has his goal changed that plan?

Lukas Jutkiewicz joined the Town academy in 2004 (Image: Adver archive)

Lukas Jutkiewicz – Birmingham City

This might sound like your classic, Town want an old player back story, but there is more merit to this than it might seem. The Swindon academy graduate has started just three Championship matches this season with only two goals to show for it. Following three consecutive matches when his studs did not touch grass before the warm-downs, he could have been on his way out of St Andrews. But a goal in front of new boss Tony Mowbray against Hull City may well have changed his whole situation at the club and given him one last chance.