ON-LOAN midfielder Michael Doughty still has his sights set on promotion with Swindon Town, despite those hopes taking a setback on Saturday with a 1-0 defeat at home to Barnsley.

The 23-year-old extended his stay at the County Ground until the end of the season before the game as he looks to make the most of a regular run in a team.

The Queens Park Rangers man has had five loan spells away from Loftus Road before his switch to Swindon but is most excited about this opportunity.

“At this point in my career I just want to go and play football now and enjoy the football I am playing,” he told the local media.

“By no means do I have a divine right to play because we have got a strong group of players. I just need to keep performing at a high level and hopefully we can do something positive here.

“(I want to achieve the) play-offs, really. I wouldn’t have signed here really if I didn’t have the ambition to take the club forward. I want to be achieving things in my career now and I don’t see why this group of players can’t achieve that.

“You shouldn’t shirk away from expectation because it is setting yourself targets and vocalising them that make it a possibility.

“While there is still the possibility to have success this season, why wouldn’t you believe that? If not, we are just playing out the game to finish in mid table.”

Doughty showed the fans, in his first home appearance, his range of passing against Barnsley but by his own admission did not quite have the impact he would have desired, despite having the chance to snatch a late point.

“It fell to me really nicely,” he explained. “I just made a late run into the box and Jeremy (Balmy) was kind of in the way a little bit and I should have tried hitting it to the left or tried to go around him to the other side but those are moments you reflect on and think what could have been and should have been.

“It was a difficult game against a side who had a clear game plan of how they wanted to approach it.

“I think we struggled a little bit in the first half to combat that but we came into it a lot better in the second and, ultimately, the margin between a point and nothing was right into the 90th minute and I think we have got to learn from that.

“It didn’t feel brilliant to play in so I don’t know how it was to watch but those games are a real test of character when you are not at your best and you need to step up and take something from it.”