IT IS hard not to get caught up in the madness that is Transfer Deadline Day, writes Andrew Steele-Davis.

For football fans the world over, everyday routines get chucked out of the window when Deadline Day comes around.

It's a feeding frenzy where fans are captivated by Jim White of Sky Sports' every word (and his yellow tie) while the cluster of quite frankly mad fans that linger outside their club longing for a sight of the next South American superstar adds an entertainment value to a day that has become a national institution.

Swindon fans have not had a great deal to get in a state of delirium about on recent Deadline Days, but all that changed this summer.

Everyone knew that Swindon Town boss Mark Cooper and chairman Lee Power were preparing for a busy day on the phones and around the fax machines, the need to bolster a threadbare squad had become apparent following a costly 4-2 defeat to Brighton in the League Cup that saw a host of key players licking their wounds.

Town’s start to the 2014/15 campaign has proved that the Robins do possess a core that is worthy of gracing the top end of the League One table, but scrape below the surface and a lack of bodies and a distinct lack of quality is alarming.

Swindon’s 1-1 draw with Coventry last week proved that. Despite going a goal down just before half-time courtesy of Josh Lelan’s careless pass, Raphael Rossi Branco’s first ever goal for the club gave the hosts the platform to go on and clinch all three points, but with the players on the pitch on their last legs following their midweek excursions, a lack of experience and proven quality on the bench restricted Cooper from making more than one change.

The arrival of Jonathan Obika, who will have a point to prove following his less-than-impressive loan spell at SN1 in the 2010/11 season, and Jack Stephens, who will need no introduction to Town fans after his stellar loan stint last term, will both bolster the depth and quality of Swindon’s squad.

There was also one departure, starlet Louis Thompson completing a dream move to Championship outfit Norwich City, a deal that could be worth up to £1.3m to the Robins.

But fear not, Thompson will remain a Swindon player for the remainder of the 2014/15 season, a transaction that proved to be very shrewd business by Mr Power.

Speaking as a journalist who is currently hitting the coffee following a rather long day and late night, Town’s busiest Transfer Deadline Day for a while proved to be one of their most successful ones.

Now where’s my bed . . .