Town First-Team Coach Ross Embleton thought there were many positives to take from the Robins’ 3-0 friendly win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town FC on Monday evening.
Goals from Jon Obika, Jake Evans and Jermaine Hylton handed the visitors a routine victory in a game that was organized to help mark the one-year anniversary of Bassett’s New Gerard Buxton Sports Ground.
And Embleton thought the night went perfectly after seeing both Obika and Raphael Rossi-Branco step up their recovery from injury.
“It was a very good night,” he told swindontownfc.co.uk.
“From the club’s point of view and our point of view in terms of the playing staff and the coaching staff, it was really important to recognise what Wootton Bassett have done for us since we’ve been training here.
“Monday night was as much about that as it was about Jon and Raphael and one or two others playing.
“With regards to the game I thought it was a good performance. It was nice that Jon and Raphael came through 60 minutes and had a good run out.
“I thought it was a good, competitive game of football so it was a nice evening.”
Both Jon Obika and Raphael Rossi Branco looked sharp during last night’s friendly win, and the pair will now be assessed ahead of this weekend’s Derby Day trip to Oxford.
“Jon looks physically strong – I don’t think he’ll ever lose that – and Raphael is obviously a very, very good athlete, so naturally they are both very fit boys,” Embleton continued.
“They’ve come back quite quickly from their injuries so we’ve got to be sensible with what we do with them.
“Whether we throw them straight in or not is something we’ll have to look and think about.
“The boys that have been in the team so far have performed well in terms of the first-team, so there is going to be a lot of competition for places which is excellent.”
