SWINDON Town have bolstered their defensive ranks ahead of the start of the new season by signing centre-back Sid Nelson on a six-month loan from Championship side Millwall.

The 22-year-old will spend the first half of the 2018-19 season at the Energy Check County Ground, and could make his Town debut for Saturday’s League Two opener at home to Macclesfield Town.

Swindon boss Phil Brown has been short of options at the back following the departures of both Matt Preston and Ryan McGivern over the summer after the duo turned down the offer of a new contract, while Rollin Menayese returned to Bristol Rovers after the end of his loan spell.

Club captain Olly Lancashire and Dion Conroy have returned to action during pre-season after ending the 2017-18 campaign on the sidelines through injury, but fellow central defender Chris Robertson has suffered a stress fracture in his ankle and will be out for six to eight weeks.

That had left Academy graduate Joe Romanski as the only other fit centre back in in the Town first-team squad, so Nelson’s arrival is a timely boost.

Nelson becomes Town’s ninth signing of a very busy off-season following the arrivals of Jermaine McGlashan, Steven Alzate, Luke McCormick, Martin Smith, Elijah Adebayo, Jak McCourt, Toumani Diagouraga and Michael Doughty.

Nelson began his career with Millwall and made his first-team debut against AFC Bournemouth in December 2014.

He has featured over 38 times for the Lions in total and has spent previous loan spells at Newport County, Yeovil Town and Chesterfield in order to gain experience in the EFL.