download All Football App

Eoin Doyle, Swindon's 'Ginger Pele' who is leading scorer in England this season

  /  autty

Eoin Doyle has scored at least two more goals than anyone else in the top four divisions in England, and more league goals than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo combined this season.

The red-hot Swindon striker - affectionately known as the 'Ginger Pele' - has netted 14 times in 16 Sky Bet League Two games and won the Sky Bet League Two Player of the Month award following a stellar October.

Dubliner Doyle is one of the most in-form strikers in Europe and certainly the most in-form Irish striker in Europe, but jokingly admits he doesn't think there is much he could pass on to Messi, despite his eye-catching form.

"He's the best ever," the 31-year-old told Sky Sports of Messi when asked to pick his favourite current player. "I wouldn't say anything about my goal record, Leo knows how hard it is to score goals.

"I'm not going to get ahead of myself in case I go through a drought, so I'll keep my mouth shut on that one!"

Okay… the Messi comparison is a bit far-fetched. After all, Doyle is playing in the fourth tier of English football. So how about the links to arguably the greatest player of all time?

"It's good fun, I do enjoy it," Doyle laughed when asked if he enjoyed his 'Ginger Pele' tag, expanding his answer in a typically modest fashion.

"I don't do too much outside the box, Pele was very good with his feet outside the box. So I'm not sure the comparison is correct."

He might play down his own talents, but Doyle is loving life at the Country Ground. Swindon are flying high in League Two; they are currently third and occupy the final automatic promotion spot after winning their last three games.

Of those three games, Doyle has scored in all of them, including a hat-trick away at Crawley and a 90th-minute winner at home to Stevenage.

"It feels great yeah," Doyle admitted. "It's been an enjoyable season so far. It feels good to play in a team with a lot of flair, a lot of talent. It's pretty beneficial to me.

"It's not just me to be honest with you. None of my goals have been spectacular, I think most of them have been inside the box!

"It's just the talent that's in the team around me. It's a very good forward, attacking team and great for any striker.

"It's the old cliché but we'll take every game as it comes. We'll definitely be going for promotion, I think we're good enough to finish in the top three.

"Hopefully come the end of the season we'll be up there."

The Robins are looking a changed side since Richie Wellens took charge 12 months ago, helping the club climb to a 13th-placed finish last term after they were left 17th when Phil Brown was sacked in November 2018.

Doyle worked under Wellens at Oldham and reveals it was not a difficult decision to make when his former boss came calling in the summer, taking him on a season-long loan from Bradford.

"The manager is very good," Doyle said. "He's got a great eye for a player and a great eye of how a game will play out tactically.

"He's very attacking minded, which is great for me. When he rang me and said he wanted me, it was a very simple choice to make."

The decision Doyle must make in the summer is if he wants to remain with Swindon or try his luck back at parent club Bradford, who are also gunning for promotion from League Two.

There are currently in second and one space above Swindon, putting Doyle in an awkward position as both sides battle each other to earn promotion to League One.

However, that's not something he is focusing on just now.

Related: Swindon Town