THE extra dozen or so hours the Swindon Town players will get to recuperate following their League One run-out against Tranmere tonight could benefit the Robins massively over the busy Christmas period.

That is the opinion of manager Paolo Di Canio, who wants his squad to make the most of their opportunity to play the night before the rest of the division.

However, Di Canio did stress that his players would only reap the rewards of the bonus recovery time if they act “professionally” post-match.

“When we have a chance to have this game before I thought the 12 or 14 hours is good if the players behave well,” he said.

“It’s fantastic from a manager’s point of view. We have the chance to play in the night, put the pressure on the other teams.

“It’s a big pressure and for sure you would stay close there with any result that happens if you win.

“You have a chance to sleep in the night, warm down Saturday morning and prepare with another 14 hours to recover in your legs because then we play four games in a not very long period.

“Some pitches are not like the County Ground, there’s a lot of mud and we have to be careful. It’s a big opportunity for us to do something special.”