Paul Fennessy

AT 27, Aaron Drinan has suddenly hit career-best form.

His Swindon Town team are vying for promotion. Only goal difference separates them and Walsall at the top of League Two.

Drinan has been a pivotal part of this run.

On Tuesday, he hit a hat-trick in a 4-0 victory away to MK Dons in the Football League Trophy, and the Corkonian now has 13 goals from 16 appearances this season.

“I’ve probably even surprised myself at how well the start of this has gone,” Drinan tells The 42.

By comparison, Drinan scored three goals from 28 League Two appearances last season. The campaign before it was four from 17 in League Two, and 0 from 12 in League One.

His only comparable seasons to what he is doing this year are when he scored 13 from 40 in League Two for Leyton Orient in the 2021-22 campaign — the one other time he has hit double figures — while he managed a similarly creditable seven from 18 during a 2019 loan spell with Waterford in the Premier Division.

So, where has it all gone right?

“It’s tough to put a finger on what it is,” he says.

Probably the most important factor is simply confidence. Strikers are subject to it arguably more than any other position on the field.

There are countless cases of forwards playing at a higher level than Drinan, who can blow hot and cold — Marcus Rashford and Evan Ferguson are two recent examples that spring to mind.

Even Liverpool star Alexander Isak, who broke the British record transfer record in August, has suddenly hit a slump, with only one goal from 11 appearances this season. And that is not unheard of even for the Swedish superstar — the season before he signed for Newcastle, Isak registered a disappointing six goals from 32 appearances in La Liga with Real Sociedad.

“I probably put it down to getting on the scoresheet early on in the season,” Drinan says. “And I suppose when a forward gets off the mark early, it puts you in a really good place mentally, and I just really kicked on from there.”

It helps, of course, that Swindon are playing well as a team, as evidenced by their league position, while creating plenty of chances for him to put away.

Injuries have scuppered Drinan’s momentum in recent times — last year, his campaign was cut short in February with a knee problem. Towards the end of his time at Leyton Orient, he had “three or four” hamstring injuries in the space of a year.

He has missed multiple pre-seasons, too, which is a psychological blow as it always creates the sense that you are playing catch-up with everyone else.

“If you’re out for a lengthy period of time, on paper, it might seem easy — once you’re back, you’re back kind of thing. But when you do pick up injuries, and especially if they’re consistent, what that does to the mind, especially as a forward player, where you obviously want to be scoring all the time. When you do get back playing, and if something else happens, you pick up another knock, it’s definitely draining on the mind.”

Aaron Drinan pictured playing for Ireland U21s in 2019. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

I relay some recent quotes by St Patrick’s Athletic player Simon Power — the winger spoke about being “a nervous wreck” going onto the pitch, in fear of getting injured. Drinan can relate.

“No matter what injury you have, even if it’s a slight knock, the first couple of games, even in the early stages of being integrated back into team training, there’s always going to be that psychological aspect there of: ‘Don’t do this again. Don’t do this again.’

“And you might not be pushing as hard in training and going: ‘I need to be right for the game.’

“But then, obviously, if you’re not going full on it in training, it’s probably going to take you even longer to get up to match fitness.

“I suppose for myself at the minute, because this season has gone really well, body is feeling healthy and stuff, you’re not really thinking of anything else bar playing games.

“But I definitely agree with the [Power] interview — it is tough to keep those voices away when you’re coming back.”

In many instances, a footballer working on the mental aspects of sport can be just as vital as practising their finishing, which is why Drinan sought assistance from a sports psychologist.

“I suppose it helps you to deal with these small, negative thoughts. Because some people say people have 99 positive thoughts and one negative, it’s the negative that sticks with you.

“So it just shows how much the mind can take over the body, and then I suppose that controls you. And sometimes it can be hard to get out of that hole again.”

Drinan’s early form was so spectacular that it saw him recognised with the League Two Player of the Month award for September.

Another important figure in this resurgence has been Swindon boss Ian Holloway.

Like Drinan, the 62-year-old is no stranger to the resilience required to make it in football.

In his pomp, Holloway guided Blackpool to Premier League promotion in 2010. But he had been out of management for nearly four years before agreeing to take charge of Swindon in October of last year.

Not every coach Drinan has come across has seen him as a nailed-on starter, but Holloway’s faith in the player has been rewarded.

“He seems to like me and we get on,” Drinan says. “That just gives you that bit more confidence.

“Before the manager came in last year, I was in and out, in and out. And as soon as he came in, from then till now, I’ve probably played 95% of the games.”

Holloway is not the only coach who has made a big difference to Drinan’s career.

After impressing in the League of Ireland with Waterford, he went on trial at Ipswich Town.

After about a week of training with the Tractor Boys, Mick McCarthy rewarded Drinan with a three-and-a-half-year contract.

“I’ll always remember something he said in an interview, whether it was [at Ipswich] or somewhere else, he said he’ll eventually be a first-team player.

“So hearing stuff like that from such a well-known figure in football, it’s really a confidence booster.”

It took a while for Drinan to “settle down” after moving across the water, and it was Leyton Orient where he eventually found his feet following a couple of fruitless loan spells elsewhere.

“I suppose it’s probably the first place that I went into and was playing straight away from the off, that was the first place where you actually felt an important part of the team. ”

Even in the most difficult periods, though, the Cork City academy graduate said he was never tempted to return home like so many talented Irish youngsters before him.

“I was always determined to stick it out as long as possible,” he says. “And obviously, you have those goals of playing in the Premier League one day, or even just getting as high as you can in the Championship. The dream is still there.”