PHIL Brown will not risk his strongest Swindon Town team in their final pre-season game against Queens Park Rangers today.

Brown will take his troops to visit the Championship outfit in a behind-closed doors match this afternoon as the club bring their pre-season friendly programme to an end.

Most recently, Town came up against local non-league side Swindon Supermarine last Friday after previous contests against West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth, with today’s game against Rangers a late addition to the schedule.

Over the course of the last three fixtures, Brown has already made his mind up on who will make up the majority of his first starting XI of the season in Saturday’s League Two opener at home to Macclesfield Town.

And the former Hull City manager is hoping the game against QPR will allow him to complete the jigsaw for when the Silkmen visit SN1.

“I never risk my team in the last week of pre-season, but pre-season was set up before I arrived and it hasn’t been a bad one, to be fair,” said Brown.

“The mark for me was the Benfica game and the gulf in class between us and them, but what a side they are.

“They put out 27 players, and if you were to ask me now if I’d have any one of them, in any position I would take them.

“We showed enough in the West Brom game and the Portsmouth game to point me in the right direction with my starting XI.

“I have probably selected nine of them after Friday night and after Tuesday, hopefully I will have my mind set on the XI and hopefully, that XI will be enough to beat Macclesfield.”

Defenders Dion Conroy and Olly Lancashire continue to work their way to full fitness, but Brown says Saturday’s opening fixture could come to early for the latter.

“Whether they have had enough time to play in the game next week is a question I need to answer in training,” said Brown.

“If I can get 45-60 minutes out of Conroy on Tuesday, he might be close to being okay, but I’m not sure about Olly.

“He will say that he’s ready because that is what players are like. We just need to get that competition for another one, possibly two.”