Swindon Town

LUKE Williams says that the remaining fixtures this season will give some of his fringe players the opportunity to show what they can do as he begins to look ahead to 2016/17.

Town travel to Rochdale on Saturday afternoon in what will be their final away fixture of the current campaign and the Head Coach says that he and his coaching staff will be making sure they use the ‘luxury’ of being able to experiment wisely.

“(There are) a lot of players that would love to be on the pitch and would love to show us that they’re ready to be a part of the team next season,” he said. “I think we’ve got the luxury to look at some players that we’re maybe not sure what level they’re at but now we can allow them to show us.

“There are very few occasions in football when you have the luxury to try something because ordinarily you’re competing so strongly for a goal whether it’s to stay in the league or whether it’s to try and get in the Play-Offs or automatic (spots). There’s normally something very pressing that stops you from experimenting too much.

“Relaxed isn’t the right word to use I think we’re trying to think about everything very seriously so that every decision we make is thoroughly thought through rather than just ‘throw a team on the pitch and see how they go’. We’re stressing to make sure everything has been thought through thoroughly and we’re doing something that’s going to help us in the future.”

He added: “We’ll see a mixture of players that are on the fringe or have just progressed through the ranks as well as players that have played plenty of games and have got some experience.

“There’s a chance that Rochdale might do the same thing. I know mathematically they can get into the last Play-Off position if there are lots of snookers and everything goes their way but there’s a chance they’re looking to play a few players that didn’t ordinarily get a chance. We could be matched up quite evenly.”