SWINDON Town players were this week sat down and reminded about the importance of maintaining high levels of intensity during training, after GPS trackers revealed some members of Richie Wellens’ squad were falling below the expected mark.

Michael Doughty was one of those players to be called into a meeting on Wednesday to discuss his sub-standard tracker results from training in the past 10 days – stats that ultimately denied him a starting spot in Town’s defeat to Newport County on Saturday.

Trackers reveal a host of data to Town’s management team and are worn during training and games.

Data reveals a player’s top speed, the rate of high intensity sprints, energy burned and their average position on the pitch – among other statistics.

Wellens underlined his law to members of the Town squad that players who don’t work on the training ground won’t play on Saturday.

And Doughty – who admitted himself that his own recent training levels haven’t been up to scratch – fell victim to the law. But he has since vowed to improve.

Hunt said: “It’s important that Richie (Wellens) emphasised to players that if they don’t work on the training ground then they won’t play – that was reiterated to everyone.

“We’re very lucky to have a good, honest, bunch of players. Sometimes, you’ve got to go back to the basics and lay down the law.

“We monitor everything. If there are two or three elements that are off, we’ll ask players if everything is okay.

“If nothing is wrong, then there’s no reason why a player shouldn’t be doing it.

“We talked about that in detail to the group on Wednesday and spoke to Michael (Doughty) too.

“He held his hands up and said he hasn’t been at it for the last week. And he’s a big enough character to know he is a very strong player for us.”

With defender Mathieu Baudry and attacking midfielder Keshi Anderson both named as major doubts for this weekend’s trip to Bradford City, Doughty could be called into starting action for the first time since his sending off at Cheltenham in August.

It’s possible Anthony Grant – Doughty’s midfield teammate – could drop back into defence amid Wellens’ defensive crisis that sees him without his two best central defenders.

But the returning Jordan Lyden and Danny Rose will for sure keep the 26-year-old on his toes.

Hunt added: “There’s nowhere to hide (with the GPS trackers), but it’s for the players’ benefit.

“We don’t have an issue with anyone in our group. All players are strong and demand from each other. Michael was totally honest and said he hasn’t been working as hard as he could do.”