James Brophy believes the opening week of the 2017/18 campaign will prove to be a good benchmark for Town.
With the fixtures for the new Sky Bet League Two season revealed earlier, the Reds will head to Carlisle United on the first day of the new term before hosting Exeter City at home the following week.
Both sides made the Play-Offs in 2016/17 and Brophy is relishing the opportunity for Swindon to show what they are made of against quality opposition.
“We’ve got some very good teams to face in the opening week and it will probably be a good test for us to see where we are at level wise,” he told swindontownfc.co.uk exclusively.
“We need to get some positive results in the first week so that we can kick-on from there.
“Our target has got to be to bounce back as quickly as possible this season and Carlisle reached the Play-Offs last season, so they will be trying to improve a little bit over the summer, kick-on and go one step further.
“It will be a good benchmark test for us, it won’t determine anything but it will be good for us to see where we are at against opposition we know could well be at the top end of the table.”
Brophy is looking forward to pitting his wits against Forest Green Rovers in September and a reunion with former team-mate Drissa Traore.
“We have them quite early on and it will be quite interesting,” he continued.
“I still keep in touch with Drissa, I lived with him whilst he was here and we’ve been texting each other, so it will be nice to meet up with him again.
“It will be a good test for us. They are a very ambitious club who have come up and they will be looking to kick-on, so we’ve got some good tests this season.”
Town will have to prepare for four games over the festive period and Brophy is excited about the clash against Barnet on New Year’s Day, given that the Hive is located near his hometown.
“I always look at the games over the Christmas period so it is nice to be at home on Boxing Day – it is always a nicer feeling and a nicer atmosphere for us,” he added.
“Barnet is near my local area so I was looking out for that one and it will be nice to play them so soon after Christmas as well.”
Finally, Town will round off the 2017/18 campaign at home to Accrington Stanley and Brophy is hoping there will be plenty to celebrate on Saturday 5th May.
“It is always nice to finish at home so hopefully by that point we’ll be celebrating the fact that we’ve reached our aim and we’ve gone back up,” he concluded.
#FixtureReleaseDay 2017/18:
- Town’s full 17/18 fixture list
- Key dates to look forward to in 2017/18
- Sync our fixtures to your calendar
- Dave Flitcroft’s 17/18 fixtures reaction
- The First Five
