PAOLO Di Canio plans to freshen things up by making changes for tonight’s clash with Dagenham & Redbridge at the County Ground.
Town suffered their first league defeat of 2012 at the weekend as they were downed 2-0 by Oxford, but they have the perfect chance to get back to winning ways against the struggling Daggers.
John Still’s side have lost 10 of their 16 games on the road this season and though they did win at Morecambe last week, that was their first away victory since August.
Games have been coming thick and fast this year and tonight’s game at the County Ground will be Swindon’s sixth successive Tuesday night game.
Consequently, Di Canio will utilise the full strength in depth of his squad to give some players a rest, with one or two looking a little jaded on Saturday.
Callum Kennedy, Lee Cox, Raffa De Vita, Alan Connell and Billy Bodin will all be pushing for starts while Di Canio could even opt to give in-form striker Paul Benson a breather by naming him among the substitutes.
“We will probably change something because we have played many games recently. We need to bring some freshness into the side and give some players a rest,” said Di Canio.
“We have many players. Before I was worried when three or four months ago I had six or seven main players and then I had to choose the rest every game.
“Now, fortunately as a manager, I have to really think about who are my best because they are all very good.
“I am happy to have this kind of choice at the moment, but some players need to rest a bit and recover the energy.
“For this reason I will change something to help us handle the situation because the next few games are very crucial for us.”
Dagenham & Redbridge beat Swindon 1-0 at Victoria Road back in August, but Town’s first-choice 11 has changed considerably with only Matt Ritchie, Paul Caddis and Alan McCormack still holding down a regular starting berth since that game.
“We have changed a lot since we last met,” added Di Canio. “We didn’t know at the time what was completely our best team, while they were in a good moment.
“They had just won a couple of games, but since then they have collected just 19 points and there is a reason for this.
“We have more than double the amount of points, I don’t want to underestimate them but if we play our football there is no chance for them.
“In the 11 games that Dagenham & Redbridge have played against the top seven they have taken five points, that includes the three they took from us.
“So from the last 10 games against top seven sides they have only taken two points. It means they probably feel the pressure against top teams.
“Obviously this is not a guarantee but if we play at 100 per cent physically, mentally and with quality, there is very little chance that we won’t get three points.”
Di Canio has reported no new injury concerns with Aden Flint (groin) the only absentee.
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