SWINDON Town paid up Oliver Risser’s contract in full in order to allow the midfielder to leave the County Ground, the Advertiser understands.

A statement released by the club yesterday confirmed Risser’s departure from the Robins, stating that the 32-year-old had left Town “by mutual consent”.

On Saturday, Swindon manager Paolo Di Canio had hinted that the Namibian’s exit could free up funds which could in turn help keep the on-loan trio of Chris Martin, Danny Hollands and John Bostock in Wiltshire.

However, the Adver has learnt that those savings could be minimal after Town stumped up the total amount due on Risser’s deal, which was set to expire in the summer.

Risser yesterday signed on with Aldershot until the end of the season. It is understood that a move to South Africa could potentially be on the cards for the midfielder at the end of the current campaign. Risser’s brother Wilko, who has also had a spell with Aldershot, recently moved to Cape Town side Chippa United.

Meanwhile, Swindon received a massive boost on Monday with the news that Martin had extended his time with the Robins for another 28 days.

The Norwich striker will now be available to Di Canio until Saturday, February 2 and can feature for Town at Crawley on that day if required.

Meanwhile, Danny Hollands could sign an extended loan contract with the Robins today. Like Martin, the Charlton man’s initial stint with Swindon expired on Saturday but Di Canio revealed yesterday that he was close to completing a new deal for the 27-year-old.

“We don’t want to say anything before the paperwork is done, but we are close to agreeing something for Danny,” he told www.swindontownfc.co.uk.

“He has scored a couple of goals and made a big impact, so we want to see what we can do – and perhaps arrange a deal for longer than a month, but we will see what’s going on.”

Elsewhere, Troy Archibald-Henville underwent knee surgery in Italy yesterday in a bid to discover the extent of his cartilage damage.

The defender, signed from Exeter for £200,000 during the summer, could be sidelined for anything between six weeks and six months. The results of the arthroscopic operation, carried out at the Villa Stuart sports rehabilitation centre on the outskirts of Rome, are not yet known but Archibald-Henville took to Twitter to thank fans for their messages of support.

He tweeted: “Op done thank you for well wishes much love people”.