Joe Snowdon and James Ball are hopeful of making a return for Swindon Town as they head to Oldham Athletic next week after dealing with hamstring injuries.
In their first two competitive games of the season at Cardiff City and Northampton Town, Swindon have been unable to field a complete substitutes' bench due to the injury crisis they have experienced over the summer.
Eight players were missing at Sixfields Stadium last weekend through injury, in addition to the suspended James Debayo, severely limiting Ian Holloway’s options.
Debayo will be back this weekend against Cheltenham Town, whilst the hope was that Paul Glatzel’s hamstring tightness was only a minor issue, as he was excluded from the squad last week as a precaution, although it presently does not seem as though he will return.
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The hope now is that the situation is starting to abate, with the injuries that players picked up over the summer getting better.
Snowdon, who was also left out as a precaution as he felt his hamstring whilst looking to return to training before Cardiff, is presently hoping to make a return at Oldham, where he scored his first Swindon goal last season.
Ball is also close to a return, as he suffered a Grade 2A hamstring tear ahead of the Bristol City game a month ago, and was expected to be out for around three to four weeks, and will also be looking towards Oldham as a possible return date.
Sam Inwood will also not be far away from a return, with his minor hamstring tear, which could see him back in time for the home clash with Colchester United.
However, all three of those players will need to be eased back into action after their injuries, and also having missed the majority of pre-season.
Ian Holloway spoke after the Northampton match that he would need to continue managing the likes of Joseph Hungbo, Ollie Clarke, Ryan Tafazolli, and Ollie Palmer, as their disrupted pre-seasons meant that they are not ready for a full 90 minutes.
Swindon have spent the week training at the Nigel Eady County Ground after their inspections of the pitches at Beversbrook found that how firm they were was likely contributing to the injury crisis within the squad.
The present plan is that they will remain at their home ground next week as well before making a decision on what to do next, as the weather is yet to drastically change from the hot conditions and lack of rain that we have seen over the summer.
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