LOSING star striker Eoin Doyle in January to parent club Bradford City is of concern to Swindon Town manager Richie Wellens.

But the 39-year-old underlined his intention to concentrate on the present, and confirmed he will focus on the controllables rather than dedicate precious time to situations that are out of his hands.

Doyle, 31, has notched seven League Two goals for Swindon Town this season after joining on loan in mid-August from Town’s League Two rivals.

Like any season-long loan deal, the parent club involved – in this case Bradford City – has the option to re-call its player once the January transfer window opens.

Therefore, it is understandable that Wellens – whose second top goalscorer Jerry Yates is also in on loan – has reason to be concerned about his star player’s long-term County Ground future.

Wellens said: “It is a concern that they might try and take him, but let’s get to January first.

“My worry is with the present, I’m not going to wake up in the morning and think about Eoin Doyle when January comes.

“My worry is that we train bright, analyse Tuesday (against Colchester), dust it away and forget about it – but at the same time realise why we got beat 3-0 at home.

“Then we’ll concentrate on trying to get a good result at Cambridge.”

Wellens also confirmed that Town’s playing budget isn’t at a sufficient level to attract strikers of Doyle and Yates’ calibre on a permanent basis.

He added: “With the money we’ve got, we can’t afford to sign Eoin Doyle on a permanent basis – hence the reason why we’ve got him in on loan.”

Reflecting on Tuesday night’s momentum-killing defeat to John McGreal’s Colchester United, Wellens accepted his team struggled to control United’s pace upon their decision to stretch the game in the later stages.

Former Town man Theo Robinson struck a second half brace to confirm Swindon’s fourth mid-week defeat of the season.

And signs of fatigue in the Town squad possibly impacted the team’s overall efficiency.

Wellens added: “Maybe there was some fatigue at the end, we didn’t have that recovery speed at the end when the game got stretched.

“Colchester made four changes, and it looked like they had fresher legs.”