SWINDON Town may not be welcoming the likes of Christian Benteke, Romelu Lukaku and Saido Berahino to the County Ground this summer but manager Luke Williams is hoping that his side’s pre-season schedule will hold them in better stead going into next season.

Last summer, Town played host to four Premier League sides in the form of Aston Villa, Everton, West Brom and Liverpool.

So far four pre-season friendlies have been confirmed by Town, with a trip to the Republic of Ireland to face Shelbourne and an as yet unnamed side, before hosting Championship side Reading and a trip to National League outfit Woking.

They might not be glamour ties to whet the palate of Town fans before the season starts but Williams believes it will give his players better preparation for the upcoming campaign.

“I think it’s a bit different,” he told BBC Wiltshire.

“It’s fair to say that (last year was) a spectacular line up for a League One club and we probably had very good contacts at the time that we used to our advantage.

“We probably haven’t quite got those contacts around this season so I think it could be a more realistic pre-season in terms of the types of threats we are going to face in the league campaign.

“We wouldn’t have changed (the last pre-season) for the world of course. For the players to be out there on the same pitch as these top Premier League players was fantastic and we learnt a lot.

“This time around we can learn as much from playing teams that are set up in a similar way to the oppositions we are going to face in the league.”

With local rivals Oxford United and Bristol Rovers both being promoted from League Two this season, the home game with Reading on Tuesday, July 19, should give Williams’ squad a taste of what to expect from a local derby.

“I think the Reading game is as close as we can get to try and simulate what it will be like playing against Bristol Rovers and Oxford (United),” he added.

“I think it is certainly closer comparison than playing against Liverpool or Everton or Aston Villa.

“We’ll play Reading here, a local opposition, and see if we can learn from that to go into the campaign.”

Meanwhile, Williams is looking to use the club’s six-day trip to Dublin as a chance to work closely with his players to kick-start pre-season in the right manner.

“It is time to focus and not have any distractions around you,” he said.

“From a selfish point of view, we take players away from their friends and family so there are not too many distractions and they can work and concentrate and try to get themselves mentally ready for this campaign that is coming.

“Physically there is going to be a lot of hard work for them as well.”