MICHAEL Doughty will return as Swindon Town’s first-choice penalty taker, despite Eoin Doyle notching his 16th goal of the season from the spot at Salford City on Saturday. 

After Jerry Yates’ second-half shot was adjudged to have struck City skipper Liam Hogan’s arm, Doyle – to many fans’ surprise – stepped up from 12 yards to put Town ahead with 35 minutes of play remaining. 

It’s possible there was some confusion between both penalty takers regarding the Irishman’s goalscoring tally.

Doughty agreed to grant the 31-year-old a chance from the spot should a penalty be awarded to Town when the Football League’s top scorer was one goal away from 15 for the season – a number which Doyle explained as important to him. 

In an interview posted by the club, Doyle confirmed that Doughty – last season’s Adver Player of the Year – will now return to penalty taking duties off the back of Town’s win at Moor Lane. 

He said: “We had a chat before the game, 15 is an important number for me so he said I could take that penalty then he’ll go back on. I’m delighted he gave me the opportunity. 

“The fans’ support is amazing, they were shouting and screaming from minute one – we’re very thankful for the support.

“It’s a great changing room, if one player makes a mistake then someone else will be there to help them out.” 

Doyle’s latest brace makes him the highest professional goalscorer in the UK. 

His positional play in Manchester on Saturday was outstanding, so much so that he should have scored a hat-trick and was denied at least one goal by a number of unfortunate blocks. 

The former Chesterfield forward also paid tribute to the work of his attacking teammates Jerry Yates and Kaiyne Woolery.

He added: “None of my goals are special, I should have scored more (on Saturday) as I missed a couple of sitters. 

“But I’m delighted for Jerry (Yates), he put in a shift and deserved his reward. Kaiyne (Woolery) too on the right is a big asset for us.

“Everyone to a man was great.”