Michael Flynn expects to learn a lot about his squad based on how they react to being dumped out of the FA Cup 7-4 by Aldershot Town.

Swindon Town were blown away by the Shots in the FA Cup First Round on Saturday and were on course for the heaviest home defeat in the history of the club prior to a late flurry of goals.

Flynn said that playing Colchester United so close to their cup exit will give him the opportunity to see the true character of the players at his disposal.

He said: “Well I think that for me, it is going to help [playing a game shortly afterwards], but how the players think, I don’t know.

“I wish they could all come in here and speak to you live on air and you could interview every single one of them because you will get a feeling for them and how much it has hurt them.

“I think you can tell that I am hurting, I am angry, and I am embarrassed, but let’s see how they respond.

“What I will say is this happened last season and a lot of them are still here from then, I am not just blaming them, but it has happened previously.

“We have just got to keep working with them, keep together, and stick together through the next two months.”

Flynn said that he had been very tempted to make some very early changes during the game but was unable to do so due to the youthful makeup of his bench.

He said: “I 100 per cent wanted to make lots of early changes, but I am not in a position to do that without making us weaker.

“We have conceded seven with what is almost our full-strength team, so if you go changing things around and putting youngsters in straightaway then it could be a cricket score.

“I have got to do the right thing for those youngsters, I have got to think about the future of their careers, and I don’t want to kill their confidence before it has even started.

“These players now need to come out and show the fans that this was a one-off and it won’t happen again.

“I will make sure that if there are players who are not putting in the hard graft day in, day out for this football club, then they won’t be here for long.”