HEAD coach Ben Garner has said Swindon Town will begin contract talks with players before January as the long-term rebuild at the County Ground continues in earnest.

It is thought all 23 players in Town's squad will see their respective contracts run out at the end of June next year, therefore some efficient discussions will be needed if the club is to avoid another significant rebuild at the end of the season.

Speaking ahead of Swindon Town v Bradford City on Saturday, Garner said some early discussions have already taken place regarding the long-term plans for the squad.

He said: "They're conversations Ben Chorley and I have been having - they'll be discussions to have with the owner as well.

"We're still under parts of the embargo, so we're still restricted in terms of certain aspects.

“But that's something we'll be looking at over the coming months and moving into January because we don't want short-term success, we want to build it long-term.

"We want to have that sustainability and those foundations. There will certainly be detailed discussions soon because we've always got an eye on the future as well as what's going on on a week-to-week basis."

Meanwhile, the Town boss provided a promising update on club captain, Dion Conroy after the defender was absent from the match-day squad against Sutton United on Tuesday.

Conroy picked up a minor ankle problem in last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Rochdale, but Garner revealed the problem is not serious and Conroy should be back before too long.

Asked about Conroy’s health in Friday’s pre-match press conference, Garner said: “Dion is good. He's having an injection in his ankle on Friday just to help deal with the swelling.

“He won't be back for Saturday, but he should be back in training for the early part of next week, which is good news.

“We knew it was fairly minor, so it wasn't a concern. We knew it was a matter of days rather than weeks. He can get back into training next week, which is good news.”