SWINDON Town head coach Ben Garner remained tight-lipped on the future of Anthony Grant amid growing suggestions the midfielder could leave the County Ground in January.

The 34-year-old has only played in seven of Town’s 26 games this term – while he has missed out on the squad altogether on 16 occasions.

A key part of Swindon’s League Two-winning campaign under Richie Wellens in 2019-20, Grant has seldom been seen this year as international call-ups for Jamaica and underwhelming displays for Town have resulted in his omission from many a match-day squad.

When asked if Grant was someone Town might be looking to move on come January, Garner said: “We’ll assess that with every player going into January.

“We’re just trying to get the possible squad in place that we think will help us push through until the end of the season.

“I’m having those conversations with (director of football) Ben Chorley at the moment where we’re looking at the current squad, and we’re also looking at potential targets to bring in.

“Our only focus in every window will be for the squad to be stronger than we come out of the window than when we went into it.”

Grant’s most-recent outing for Town was a solid performance at centre-back against Colchester United in a 2-1 EFL Trophy defeat late last month.

However, Garner was not impressed with a player who was lovingly nicknamed ‘The General’ by Town fans and says Grant simply hasn’t done enough to force himself into the boss’ thinking ahead of the likes of Louis Reed or Ryan East.

Pressed further on why Grant has rarely been seen in Town’s match-day squad so far this season, Garner said: “It’s simply that he’s not been playing as well as the people ahead of him.

“He had an opportunity against Colchester United in the EFL Trophy and didn’t stake his claim to go into the team or squad ahead of those in front of him – that’s football.

“We don’t have a big squad, but we’ve got some good quality in there, and we’ve got some young players around it that are really enthusiastic and have taken their opportunities like Mo Dabre.

“We’ve got Harry Parsons and Ricky Aguiar that are doing great out on loan, so we’re really pleased with those players that are pushing the ones in the team. That’s the culture that we want at the football club.”