SWINDON Town chairman Lee Power has confirmed that Jordan Stewart is set for an extended spell on the sidelines after failing to settle at the County Ground.

The 20-year-old signed a three year contract when he joined Town from Northern Irish semi-professional outfit Glentoran in August but has since returned to his native Northern Ireland.

On a radio phone-in held by BBC Wiltshire, chairman Power said that the Northern Ireland U21 international would not be playing football unless someone came in with an offer that at least matched the reported £50,000 paid for him by Town.

“In all my years of football, I have never known anything like it,” he said. “When you think about it, it must happen quite a bit, but he was only moving from Ireland, not Iraq.

“We are as disappointed and surprised as anyone else.

“It was a fantastic opportunity for the kid and I think his dad even came over for a couple of days and said he would leave his job but he still decided to go back.

“Unless someone pulls up the money that we paid for him, then he doesn’t play football for three years, which is a shame for the boy and financially, for the football club, is not great.”

Power also addressed the form of Iraq midfielder Yaser Kasim but denied rumours that there was unrest amongst the playing staff.

“I don’t know whether Yaser is not happy but I totally agree with you - his form hasn’t been great,” he added. “It wouldn’t just be Yaser. There will be many players from last season whose form is the reason why we are in the position we are in at the moment.

“If you look at Yaser, I think a lot of unrest has come from playing for his country and the politics of playing for his country has been well documented in the press.

“I don’t know why they (the fans) say there is unrest in the squad because there isn’t.

“The lads aren’t happy with what is happening and the position they are in but as a group, they all get on fine.”