SWINDON Town manager Richie Wellens admitted a win would cause problems for his team as the Robins host Charlton Athletic in the first round of the League Cup this afternoon.
Victory over the Addicks would see Town play five games in 15 days to start the season – something Wellens is keen to avoid with a relatively small squad at his disposal.
However, the 39-year-old is yet to lead Swindon to cup victory in six attempts as manager, and the Mancunian is all too aware of that statistic ahead of recently-relegated Charlton’s arrival in Wiltshire.
A trying performance is all Wellens says he will demand of his players, with the result coming second on the list of priorities ahead of next week’s League One commencement at home to Rochdale.
Wellens said: “We want to win (against Charlton) of course, but if you win then you end up playing on the next free Tuesday and that causes problems.
“So if you win, there’s a benefit because you’re going through, but if you lose there’s a benefit because you don’t have that extra game.
“But I haven’t won a cup game since I’ve been at the club, so that’s in the back of my mind because I want to win a cup game.
“Apart from Cheltenham away in the FA Cup, I haven’t been able to pick my strongest team, so the stats can be a bit misleading.
“I would like to get a win under my belt in a cup, but then again it does cause problems further along the line where your preparation for league games can be hampered.”
Wellens is expected to pick his strongest available line-up for this afternoon’s tie in order to give them another full 90 minutes before a full week’s rest.
A fringe XI will be sent out on Tuesday when Town’s EFL Trophy campaign gets underway at home to West Brom under 23s, according to Wellens.
He said: “We are treating this game (against Charlton) as the last friendly before the league season starts.
“We don’t think we’re quite where we want to be yet, hence we’ve only given the players one full 90 minutes each, but we have had to plan pre-season a little bit differently this year.
“We will try our best to win the game, but we are still treating it as the last pre-season game before Rochdale because Tuesday will be a completely different team.”
