Gavin Gunning revealed that he is making sure that he is careful with Paul Glatzel and not overusing him with his injury history.

Glatzel has impressed greatly since arriving at the County Ground during the January transfer window, scoring two goals and getting two assists in his time so far.

The interim head coach has not been shy with his praise of the former German youth international, one of a number of young players that he urged fans to “get excited” about.

He said: “If you look at Glatzel and the way he has performed since he has come in and anybody I speak to is saying ‘Glatzel this, Glatzel that’, he has been brilliant and he probably should have had five or six goals.”

However, he has only completed a full 90 minutes twice since this season, with many fans questioning why Gunning seemed to be removing him around the 75th minute with regularity regardless of how he was playing.

But Gunning revealed that whilst he has recovered well from the injury problems that have plagued his career so far, he still feels that he should be careful with the attacker and make sure that he is not overextending himself.

He said: “We have just got to be careful with him because I am playing him nearly all of the minutes since I came in, in every game he has been the one consistent player.

“So, I took him off, I am not trying to hold onto him but because he will just run himself into the ground, he is such a good team player.

“Sometimes that can kill you as a player, as well, because you don’t know how to look after yourself.”

The defeat against Accrington Stanley also saw Saidou Khan not involved and Gunning said after the match that he had picked up an injury that Swindon are still determining the severity of.

The Gambian international has been an ever-present for Swindon this season, making 31 appearances in League Two, but may now face the prospect of missing some time with an injury.

He said: “[Why did Khan not play tonight?] He was just injured.

“[Will he be back for Saturday?] I don’t know.

“I think that we are just waiting to find out, Kristian [Malcolm, first team physiotherapist] will liaise with him and we will get a scan and then see where we are at.”