SWINDON Town manager Kevin MacDonald plans to give run-outs to as many of his squad members and trialists as possible at Swindon Supermarine tonight.

The Robins start their series of pre-season fixtures with the brief trip to South Marston, where MacDonald is set to field two different XIs in either half.

Trialists including Louis Harris, Albi Skendi, Kynan Isaac and Ade Talabi may be given gametime at the Webb’s Wood Stadium.

MacDonald said: “I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully we’ll have 22 players available who can play 45 minutes each. Some might play maybe 50 or 55 minutes to try to cover all the bases.

“We feel after the training we’ve done that it’s a great chance to get them into 11-a-side football and competitive games.

“The main aims are to have a look at trialists but also to get the players fitter and match-fit. We can have the 11 v 11s at the training ground sometimes but it’s better playing against opposition and it gives the players a chance to get stuck in.”

Several new trialists arrived at the club yesterday and today’s game will come too soon for them, but MacDonald intends to give them “Most of them are still here. We’ll give all of those who are still here a game. We’ve got some more trialists in this week but it’s a bit early for them so maybe Banbury might be for them or we might leave it until the game next week against Devizes.

“Because we’re going to have a big turnaround of trialists we’re going to have to make decisions very quickly. Everyone makes good and bad decisions but we’re going to have to make quick decisions. We’ll see how they deal with training and whether they can take those into a football match.

“There’s not an ongoing thing of giving people three, four or five weeks - we can’t afford to do that.”

Juggling getting his full-time players up to speed and assessing a raft of new faces is a tricky task for the Swindon manager, but one he understands is necessary during a time of transition at the County Ground.

“It’s just the position the club is in at the moment, it’s difficult times for the club,” he said. “We have to have a look at them, we might not get all the judgements right but that happens in football.

“We’re in a difficult situation from the point of view that we’re trying to get players fit but also have a look at trialists as well.

“I think you can sometimes tell from how they train as to how their potential is and how it might map out eight or nine months down the line.

“It’s a difficult job but it’s what you’ve got to do. It’s part of pre-season training but it’s also part of being a coach - you see in some people a bit of potential and in others a lot, it’s about getting potential out.”