SWINDON Town head coach Ben Garner confirmed unattached defender Mandela Egbo is training with his team but admitted the 24-year-old is unlikely to sign a contract at the County Ground.

The defender had been rumoured to be training with Swindon since early January – something the Town boss verified in his pre-Bradford City press conference.

Garner knew Egbo from the pair’s time at Crystal Palace Under-18s before the former England youth international moved to Germany for spells with Borussia Monchengladbach II and Darmstadt.

Having returned from a two-year stint with Major League Soccer outfit, New York Red Bulls at the start of 2022, Egbo later joined Swindon’s group in a bid to boost training numbers while keeping himself in playing shape.

Explaining the current situation with the 24-year-old, Garner said: “Mandela is a player I had at Crystal Palace as a young lad.

“He came back from New York in late November for family reasons, and he’s looking for his next move now.

“He’s having a few conversations with clubs abroad, he’s trained with us regularly since January onwards.

“If we didn’t have players in the positions he can play, I would sign Mandela. He’s a very good player, he could easily play at this level in this country and probably above, in my opinion.

“He’s a great guy, I’ve known him a long time, but we’re just helping him to keep fit. He also helps us with our training numbers.”

With Town having been linked with the right-back in January before moving for Peterborough United’s Joe Tomlinson on loan, Garner admitted it would not be impossible for Egbo to sign in the summer – but only if something else does not work out in the meantime.

Garner said: “We could possibly sign him in the summer, but for the time being he’s just training with us.

“We’re helping him, he’s helping us, and I’ve also tried to help him with other clubs by putting him in touch with a couple of people abroad to see if he can get something.

“I will help him do that, it’s not going to be a case of us being selfish and saying: “no, don’t go there, stay here and play and we might be able to do something in the summer.”

“With any ex-player of mine, I’ll always do what is best for them and their career.”