SWINDON Town head coach Scott Lindsey has revealed the club has already begun discussions over new contracts for some of its players who see deals run out in the summer of 2023.

Jonny Williams, Ben Gladwin, and Louis Reed top the list of players who fans are likely to want to stick around, with Cian Harries, Mathieu Baudry, Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, and George Cowmeadow completing the list of permanent squad members who could leave next year.

Swindon have the option of bringing Plymouth Argyle forward Luke Jephcott in during the January transfer window, while Sol Brynn, Ciaran Brennan, and Frazer Blake-Tracy agreed season-long loan deals at the start of this campaign.

Lindsey would not reveal specific names but confirmed plans are already well underway to build a competitive squad for either League One or League Two next season.

He said: “We’ve already started looking at contracts, myself and Sandro [Di Michele]. We’ve already started speaking to players who we feel need to be given new deals.

“That’s already been happening, but each game we continue to assess the players. They’re not just assessed on how they play though; they’re assessed as people too.

“We’ve got some good lads here, and it’s important to the football club that we have the right characters in the dressing room.”

One of the key characters, both on and off the pitch, Louis Reed was handed his first start in two months on Saturday as Swindon lost 2-0 away at Crawley Town.

Explaining why Reed was brought back into the fold after such a long time out, Lindsey said: “It was needed for him to come in and control the game and try to have that dominance from those deep areas, which I think he did really well at times.

“The second goal was a bit of a freak goal, wasn’t it? Reed opened his ankle up a little bit before then, so he was probably uncomfortable receiving the ball into him with his back to goal at that point.

“But both goals were really disappointing. We’re really disappointed with how Saturday unfolded overall.”

The Swindon boss later went on to reveal the damage which had been done to his squad at the People’s Pension Stadium.

Lindsey said: “I’ve had to make a lot of changes, four of which were due to injuries. Tom Clayton felt really uncomfortable for most of the game as he’s got a problem with his quad.

“Saidou Khan obviously went down at the end, Jephcott got a kick to his shin, and then Ben Gladwin felt his hamstring in the first half. They were all changes we didn’t want to make.”