Town Head Coach Luke Williams is expecting a very tough game against Charlton Athletic on Saturday but is extremely confident his side can get back on track at home.
Russell Slade’s Addicks are the visitors to SN1 tomorrow (12pm Kick-Out) with the game being shown live on Sky Sports.
Charlton have yet to get going this season but are able to boast a squad packed to the brim full of quality and experience, although Williams has backed his charges to come out on top.
“They’ve got two very experienced staff in Russell Slade and Kevin Nugent who are going to be able to guide their group through the season and they are going to be formidable tomorrow – I’ve got no doubt about that,” he told swindontownfc.co.uk.
“We have to be at the top of our game to get a result but I’m very optimistic.
“We’ve had two games in the cup where we’ve fought tooth and nail for everything under difficult circumstances with playing away in both games and some adverse weather conditions, particularly in one of them.
“We’re looking forward to getting back on more familiar territory at The County Ground, which is always spectacular and the Groundsman is fantastic.
“We look forward to that and we strongly believe we’re going to be able to get the points and get our season really started.”
Williams is also looking forward to catching up with former Robins’ striker Nicky Ajose, who will be lining up for Charlton on Saturday.
“He’s somebody that is so popular with the all the staff and players here that know him,” he continued.
“We’ve got such fond memories of him having two very successful spells here and scoring goals for us.
“Last season he was pivotal to us making a recovery and actually at one point getting close to the play-offs, so we’ve got fantastic memories of Nicky and we think the world of him but we want him to have one off-day!”
Finally, Williams provided an injury update on a number of players ahead of tomorrow’s encounter with the Addicks.
“We’ve got to make sure that everything is 100% cleared for James Brophy. Although he competed in the Checkatrade Trophy, it was something that was a calculated risk because we knew at any point during that game we could withdraw James.
“Not to belittle the competition but we felt that we had a very good chance of going through and we felt we could make a change at any point in that game without it drastically affecting what we were doing.
“Other than that we’re very happy with where everyone is.
“Both Conor Thomas and Sean Murray had minor knocks and we expect them to be fully involved on Saturday.
“Nathan Thompson is making fantastic progress, as expected with someone who is so professional.
“He’s done everything absolutely to the letter and the initial signs show a very positive healing process.”
