Mark Kennedy said it is nice to have some new faces around as Swindon Town have had their injured players return to full training.

Ahead of a second consecutive two-game week, Town take on Bristol Rovers in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy before facing former boss Michael Flynn and local rivals Cheltenham Town.

Ahead of Tuesday, Kennedy offered some good news that the injured collective of Ollie Clarke, Grant Hall, Ryan Delaney, and Harry Smith have returned to full training.

The head coach has frequently spoken about how much of a loss that group of experienced players have been and they are now coming closer to a return.

However, much like Rosaire Longelo, who made his return from injury off the bench at the weekend, they will have to be eased back into full action.

He said: “Rosaire got some minutes on Saturday and the other guys we have been speaking about in the last week are all back in full training, so it has been nice to have some new faces on the training ground.

“[Longelo] will have to be managed, it was five or six weeks that he was out for and he has only had a full week of training, so he will be load compromised.

“Sometimes you talk to people and they ask why people come on late or why people have to come off, so when people wonder why somebody has to come off then they may have some understanding of the whys.”

That quintet may not be the only players that Swindon are managing the minutes of at the moment as Kennedy revealed on Saturday that Tunmise Sobowale’s substitution was informed by him struggling with a knock.

One player who has been ruled out is Kabongo Tshimanga, although the full extent of his injury is not yet known, he had to be replaced during the first half against Harrogate Town with a hamstring problem.

Kennedy said: “Apologies [I don’t have a full update yet], I can try and answer the question as I don’t think that it is bad.

“I am trying to be honest with you but I don’t actually know; only from how he came off on Saturday and how he was.

“I know Jackson [Bradley] has seen him and he will tell me when I go in but our first thoughts were that it was not bad.

“But with a hamstring, whoever you are even a small tear will mean you miss a short period of time.”