Ian Holloway explained why he decided to leave George Cox and Jake Cain out of his Swindon Town squad against Cheltenham Town.
As their injury situation continues to improve, Holloway had 20 players available for selection on Saturday as Town drew 3-3 with Cheltenham and the two he opted to leave out of his matchday squad were Cox and Cain.
Cox has not played since sustaining his second foot injury of the year against Tranmere Rovers in January and has been recovering ever since, although has returned to contention in the last two weeks.
With no recognised left-back available with Cox and Billy Kirkman out injured, Cain initially filled in at the back, starting against Carlisle United, Port Vale, and Harrogate Town in that role, although he was then on the bench for three games before dropping out against Michael Flynn’s outfit.
Holloway opted to go with a more attack-minded bench, with Joe Westley, Joel Cotterill, and Paul Glatzel all options to try and change the game.
With Cox having now been the extra player in both squads since his return from injury, Holloway explained why he had not brought him back in yet.
He said: “Left out? He hasn’t gotten back in yet because we have been winning and we have been playing well.
“I can’t tell him why I didn’t pick him because I haven’t been picking him for a while and we have been winning, so you better ask him.
“There is always going to be someone being left out, poor old Cainy didn’t deserve it but Joel Cotterill is going to be gone [next week due to playing for Wales Under-21s], so I am going to need to make at least one change to the squad for next week.
“But if they want to keep their place or get back in it then don’t get injured. Don’t be sick, lame, or lazy. Always be available to be picked, but you can’t always help that, can you?”
Swindon are now only without Kirkman, Grant Hall, and Harrison Minturn from their full squad as all of them are recovering from injuries.
Hall’s hamstring issue means that he does not yet have a target date to return, but Minturn and Kirkman have begun running as they return from injury, although both will still not be considered for selection in the first team for another couple of weeks.
