SWINDON Town were able to return to training yesterday morning after a suspected bomb had forced them to leave their Calne base early on Friday afternoon.

The Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team were called to the Beversbrook Sports Facility on Friday to deal with the device, which had been found by construction workers at roughly 2pm.

When the team arrived, the mystery device was identified as a practice air-drop weapon from the Second World War, which had detonated upon impact so posed no threat to anyone, although that wasn’t known until the disposal team descended on the sports facility.

Town manager David Flitcroft was at the complex alongside his squad as they prepared for Saturday’s League Two fixture with Newport County at the Energy Check County Ground.

As a result, the 43-year-old was told to remove himself and his players from the pitch while the army dealt with the device.

Flitcroft, who saw his side lose 1-0 on Saturday, says he was more than happy to carry on training, although the players had no qualms with bringing the session to a premature end.

The Town boss also believed it summed up what had been a dreary week for the Wiltshire side, who lost 3-2 to Grimsby Town the previous Tuesday before suffering a number of injuries to first-team players.

“We got thrown off of the training ground early on Friday because they found a bomb,” said former Bury manager Flitcroft.

“It was a 40 or 50-year-old bomb, so we got asked to leave the pitch early at Calne. That summed the week up, really.

“In my eyes, I wanted to stay on. It hadn’t gone off in 50 years so it might not have gone off on Friday.

“The guys (maintnenance workers) were just doing some (work with the) turf and they came across it (the device).

“Certainly, the army got down there pretty quickly. We got off there pretty quick and the lads didn’t need telling twice.”

Flitcroft will now turn his attention away from League Two as the club have a chance to progress to the third round of the FA Cup, should they beat Stevenage, who they are also due to meet on January 6 - the same day as when the third round is due to take - on Saturday.