SWINDON Town head coach Luke Williams admitted that Lloyd Jones was a late omission from the side that beat Gillingham last night, having failed a fitness test.

The central defender was given until the 11th hour to prove his recovery from a knock that saw him withdrawn from the win over Coventry City with 15 minutes remaining at the Ricoh Arena.

Having seen his side record one of their most convincing victories of the season to date, Williams was keen to stick with the winning formula.

However, with Jones ruled out, Raphael Branco returned from his two-match suspension to feature alongside Nathan Thompson in the heart of Swindon’s defence.

The Brazilian got off to a slow start and was guilty of a soft challenge in the box that led to Cody McDonald’s opener for the visitors in the 10th minute.

After some words from Williams at half-time, the 26-year-old looked more assured in the second period and recompensed for his earlier mishap with a well-taken header to wrap up the victory for Swindon.

“He was close,” said Williams on Jones.

“We tested him this (Tuesday) evening as late as possible because after the weekend, everybody on the pitch deserved to stay there and it was a close call.

“Raphael has been fantastic all season and the increased size of the squad is now showing.”

With Jones absent, there was space in the matchday squad for an extra loan player, but Williams went with just four of the five allowed, with Islam Feruz attending court the same day in Glasgow and Fankaty Dabo having picked up an injury in a behind-closed-doors friendly with the Daniel Sturridge Academy on Monday.

“Obviously, Islam (Feruz) was not available and Fankaty (Dabo) played in the reserve team and would have potentially been in the first team as well, but pulled out of the game with a sore hamstring,” added Williams, who predicts the latter to be fit for Saturday’s visit of Chesterfield.

“(The reserve game) replaced a training session that we would ordinarily do for the boys who are not in the squad.

“It’s, for the players who are not in the squad, a nice training session.

“It’s nothing of any real concern but there was no point to put him in the squad.”