HEAD coach Luke Williams concedes the fitness of club captain Nathan Thompson has left the Swindon Town staff scratching their heads.

Thompson limped off in the first half of Town’s 3-2 defeat at Milton Keynes Dons on December 30 but the problem was initially played down.

The skipper was only forced off after the insole in his right boot, which Thompson wears to alleviate pain from a previous injury, broke and Williams was hopeful that the 26-year-old would be back for the next game against Southend United on January 2.

However, Thompson missed that match against the Shrimpers as well as Town’s most recent game at home to Shrewsbury Town last weekend.

Although Thompson had returned to training ahead of the Shrews clash, he was still unable to come through sessions without feeling any discomfort and Williams admits the fact the problem is dragging on so long is a cause for concern for everyone.

“All of us, Nathan included, is surprised at how long it seems to be taking,” said Williams.

“The injury is no more serious than we originally thought, it’s just the recovery time has not been as quick as we initially thought.

“It’s not something that we misjudged and is now far worse, it’s something that unfortunately is taking longer “You would expect this type of injury (to be a quick heel). With the experience the physio has got, he looked at it and said: ‘It’s a short-term thing’.

“Nathan himself, with his own experience of his body, when he understood the significance of the injury, thought it was nothing. Then all of a sudden, it’s: ‘I can still feel it, it’s dragging on longer than anticipated’.

“He is taking part in training but it’s something that gets sorer as he goes and then of course you run the risk of it becoming much more serious and inflaming it and then it’s a problem.”

Despite Thompson’s absence for recent games, Williams is pleased with how solid Town have been defensively and only a late Shrews equaliser prevented them from making it back-to-back clean sheets last time out.

Both those games ended in draws and although Williams would naturally prefer to have claimed victory each time, he cannot be too disheartened by the results.

“Let’s remember that we have conceded one goal in two games and we have got two points out of those to put on the board,” said Williams.

“One more draw is a win, it’s three points, although it’s taken us too long to get them.

“To concede one goal in two games and to get two points is not the ideal scenario, of course we all very much want to win games of football, but it’s far better than losing two games and shipping a lot of goals.”