SWINDON Town manager David Flitcroft is hotly anticipating the club’s biggest pre-season test when they play host to Oldham Athletic today.

Having comfortably dispatched non-league opposition in the form of Swindon Supermarine and Melksham Town so far, the Latics are the only league side currently pencilled into Town’s pre-season schedule of six games.

And despite the disappointment from the coaching staff that they will not be playing in front of a packed stadium as they take to the County Ground for the first time, with the midday kick-off being played behind closed doors, Flitcroft is thankful to Oldham manager John Sheridan, whose side ran out comfortable 3-0 winners over Southern League side Salisbury on Wednesday night, for making sure they could get the important fixture on.

“It’s the one I’m really looking forward to from a football test,” he told the local media.

“We found out that Oldham are down here at Bath University training.

“They couldn’t stay another night to put it on the Saturday – Friday lunchtime was the agreed date and it’s brilliant that Oldham can do that.

“It gives us a real League One test and we have got to thank (John Sheridan) for doing that for us because it is a fantastic game.”

Meanwhile, Flitcroft has not given up hope of adding to their pre-season schedule, which still includes trips to Salisbury, Woking and Chippenham Town, the latter confirmed this week as a 7pm kick-off on Tuesday, August 1.

With Portsmouth cancelling this Saturday’s trip to non-league Eastleigh due to an ‘unsuitable’ playing surface, Flitcroft and the staff behind the scenes have been trying hard to pick up any scraps, but the Town manager will not be concerned should nothing materialise between now and the first game of their League Two campaign.

“We’ve hit the post on a couple but, as the pre-season gets under way and teams start assessing where they are at (we’ll know more),” he added.

“I noticed that Portsmouth cancelled their game (with Eastleigh on Monday) so we put a call into Portsmouth.

“We are keeping an eye on every possible situation to try and get maybe another one or two games in.

“But, if we can’t, we are working hard in the 10 v 10s that we are doing.”