Dan the Fan: Town need to keep hold of Timlin in January

Town are now only 180 minutes away from returning to Wembley for the second time in three seasons.

But before Tuesday night Town played League One opposition Colchester United and came away with a 1-0 win and progressed into the F.A Cup 3rd round where we will take on Premier League Side Wigan Athletic.

With the Latics fighting for their lives in the league I doubt Roberto Martinez will bring his strongest eleven, which will give Town an even bigger chance to progress into the next round and cause an upset.

After the excitement of the F.A Cup draw Town again progressed in the Johnstones Paint Trophy with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from captain Paul Caddis & sub Ronan Murray.

With Barnet winning the other semi-final the two teams will now play a two-legged Southern final to see who moves onto Wembley to play either Oldham or Chesterfield next March.

The game saw another impressive performance from central midfielder Jonathan Smith, when he joined the club I think he was going to be more of a back up for Paolo’s midfield but especially over the last month he’s become a key first team player.

Smith and Simon Ferry have been critical in the clubs recent unbeaten run and those two players keeping fit will be vital to any success we have this season.

Another player that's been key this season is Michael Timlin, but in helping Southend move to the top of the League Two table.

With his loan deal coming to an end in January the club needs to decide weather to sell him, renew his loan deal or recall him to Town.

Personally i think its a no brainer, Town should recall him back to the first team, selling or loaning him to a League Two rival would be beyond stupidity with us trying to overtake the promotion hunting clubs around us.

Of course a sizeable bid from a League One club would be very well received by everyone but i'd have him in my match day squad every week when he returns to the club next year.

This Saturday Town travels west to take on a struggling Bristol Rovers side at the Memorial Stadium.

In the last six league games Rovers have only picked up one win and find themselves 18th in League Two after a pre-season that promised so much from Paul Buckle’s men.

The big team news for Swindon is Matt Ritchie’s suspension, which rules him out this weekend.

With Raffaele De Vita rested on Tuesday night he’ll come back into the starting eleven which hopefully means the improving Lander Gabilondo will move over to the right hand side and we should see the return of Simon Ferry to the first team after a recent illness.

Also on Tuesday night Alan Connell picked up a slight knock, which could see him rested and new loan signing Ronan Murray make his first start for Town.

We all know from past local derbies at Bristol Rovers that form doesn’t always mean a great deal but after a brilliant week for the club in cup competitions and team spirit high we should be coming away with another win from Bristol this season.

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