Football League World can exclusively disclose that Swindon Town and Mansfield Town have reached an agreement for Swindon Town to loan striker Tom Nichols.
The 31-year-old will move temporarily to the County Ground, marking Ian Holloway’s first commercial opportunity since joining the League Two team in late October.
The Robins have had a relative upturn in fortunes recently, going undefeated in their previous three games, but they are still fighting to avoid sliding into the National League alongside teams like Tranmere Rovers, Harrogate Town, Morecambe, and Carlisle United.
Nichols, meanwhile, has had trouble getting regular playing time since joining the Stags in February, especially since Nigel Clough’s team returned to League One. His most recent outing was in an October 2-0 victory against Blackpool.
Swindon Town agree loan move for Mansfield Town’s Tom Nichols
nous for Swindon Town
Holloway stated prior to the opening of the January transfer window that he was hopeful of bringing in at least two fresh faces to Swindon, and FLW can exclusively reveal that the Wiltshire outfit have agreed a loan move for the 31-year-old forward.
The fourth-tier outfit are yet to confirm any additions thus far, but are on the cusp of securing the temporary deal for Nichols, which comes months after Stags boss, Clough, revealed that he could have departed Field Mill on loan in the latter stages of the August window.
Mansfield have an abundance of striking options, and two in particular who have been extremely clinical in the opening 23 games of the Nottinghamshire side’s third tier campaign, with Will Evans and Lee Gregory finding the back of the net 19 times between them.
As previously mentioned, Nichols has only made five league appearances for the club this term, despite accumulating three goals and as many assists in 18 games after joining from Gillingham 11 months ago as Mansfield were promoted from League Two in third
place.
With 260 appearances for Mansfield, Gillingham, Exeter City, Crawley Town, and Cheltenham Town, Nichols has played in the fourth division for the bulk of his career.
The seasoned forward also has 66 goals and 37 assists at this level, and his ability to score goals and have a creative instinct will only help Swindon, who have already scored 31 goals, though Harry Smith leads the team with nine goals.
Additionally, Nichols’ contract with Field Mill expires in the summer.
Since it seems very unlikely that he won’t play for Mansfield again, a successful loan period under Holloway—which, from Swindon’s point of view, would mean a respectable total of goals and assists to pull them out of the bottom two—gives him the opportunity to put himself in the shop window during the next business opportunity.
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