SWINDON Town captain Nathan Thompson has said the club is giving him every chance to be fit in time to lead his team out in front of up to 60,000 fans for the League One play-off final at Wembley.

The defender limped off with a hamstring injury early in the second half of Town’s remarkable 5-5 draw with Sheffield United in the second leg of their semi-final last week and was told he had a tear which could have ruled him out of Sunday’s clash with Preston North End.

However, Thompson has undergone oxygen therapy and resumed running this week and he believes he still has enough time to recover for the pivotal game at the national stadium.

“My fitness is getting there. The club have been very good in terms of allowing me to get injections, oxygen therapy and stuff like that, so they are giving me every chance,” Thompson told the Advertiser.

“I started running again, which is a good sign, and with the final six days away I’ve got every chance of being fit for the weekend. I don’t want to put myself under pressure; it is a muscle injury and sometimes when you do rush them you can set yourself back quite a lot.

“I know what is at stake and I know we have a lengthy lay off after this game, so I will be giving myself every chance, but at the same time I don’t want to hinder the team’s chance and if I’m not 100 per cent fit it would be unfair to take a position off someone else.”

Thompson said the initial scan had suggested it was a grade two injury and he had an eight centimetre tear, but following an ultrasound the radiologist told him it was not as bad as the initial scan had suggested.