Swindon Town defender Matt Preston set for spell on the sidelines with a knee injury

The Swindon skipper was left out of Saturday’s 1-0 win at home to Mansfield Town with an ankle complaint but was restored to the starting XI for Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat at Wycombe Wanderers after Preston suffered a knee injury against the Stags.

Post-match Flitcroft revealed his captain was forced to have an injection prior to kick-off at Adams Park.

As things stand, Flitcroft may have to prepare for life without Preston in his back-line as he looks set to be out of action for a while.

Flitcroft said: “He is seeing a specialist on Friday. He has had a scan and at the minute, it doesn’t look good.

“There was a load of swelling on it after Saturday’s game. He had a scan on Monday night - his knee has ballooned, it has doubled in size.

“We are sending him to the top specialist. They will give us the details if the swelling comes out of it.

“His adrenaline got him through the game on Saturday - he felt something and it has blown up. We think it could be a medium-term injury.

“I can’t clarify until we have seen the specialist.

“It would be a massive loss. He had a great start when he came in, then had an indifferent spell and since then, he has been fantastic through the last couple of months.”

With Preston’s injury more pressing, Flitcroft admits he has had to shelve plans to deal with Lancashire’s ankle issue.

Rollin Menayese and Chris Robertson are the only other established central defenders in the Town squad, so Flitcroft is hoping to nurse the skipper back to health now their frantic period of fixtures is over.

“We have to stall on that because of Matt’s injury but we just have to reset, refocus and concentrate on Saturday,” said Flitcroft.

“Olly is probably going to need an injection for the Port Vale game and then you need two or three days for the drug to do its job.

“Now the schedule is Saturday to Saturday, so hopefully we can manage him through it.”