SWINDON Town head coach Ben Garner has confirmed Harry Parsons and Ricky Aguiar will remain on loan at Chippenham Town for the foreseeable future.

The young attacking pair joined Mike Cook’s National League South side on short-term deals on November 12 and 17, respectively, with both having so far netted five goals as Chippenham’s form improved over the Christmas period.

With both loan deals set to run out in the first week of January, the Bluebirds’ boss expressed a desire to keep the duo earlier in the week but admitted it might be “a stretch” given club finances.

However, from Garner’s point of view, he said he is happy for Chippenham to continue playing a part in Parsons and Aguiar’s development should they be able to.

Garner said: “I spoke with Ben Chorley earlier in the week about this – we’re both happy for them to continue at Chippenham.

“I think it’s been a really good loan so far, both Harry and Ricky have got at least five goals each. They’re doing great, and that’s a good return from the games they’ve played.

“The beauty of it is that they still train with us, so they’re still getting the development here but they’re going to get that game and life experience at Chippenham.

“We’d like to keep them there for longer, I wouldn’t put a time frame on it, but we want to keep them playing. But also developing with us, so that if we need to bring them back into the fold at any point then we’ve got that option.”

Aguiar in particular has been a key component in Chippenham’s increased attacking threat and has regularly played a part in creating goals as well as scoring them.

Garner said the former Worthing player’s first loan move since arriving at Swindon has worked almost perfectly as the 20-year-old has grown on and off the pitch.

He said: “Ricky has done really well. I think when a player comes into a league club, especially from non-league and has to relocate, it takes a little bit of time to adjust.

“Sometimes you have to be patient with that, Ricky is a young player who has moved away from home for the first time. He’s come into the first team at full-time football for the first time – it takes time to adjust.

“I think he’s really developed – not just as a player, but as a young man too. He’s so much more mature now, he’s so much more determined in his outlook.

“I think the loan has really helped with that, so we need to use the loans to help bridge that gap sometimes.

“Undoubtedly now, Harry and Ricky are both closer to our first team than what they were before. That’s the point of a loan to get that experience and development.”