Ryan Tafazolli is close to making a return to action for Swindon Town after six weeks out with a toe injury.
One thing that tended to knock Swindon off course last season was missing Tafazolli, which was a reality they had to deal with a lot, as he only played 40 per cent of the total minutes during 2025/26.
After signing a new contract in the summer to remain as a key leader in the squad for this term, it has been more of the same, as the former Wycombe Wanderers defender has dealt with calf problems throughout pre-season, meaning that he only got on the pitch twice during pre-season.
Tafazolli then played 45 minutes against Cardiff City, 23 minutes against Northampton Town, an hour against Cheltenham Town, a full 90 against Oldham Athletic, and 56 minutes against Port Vale, but broke a toe in that last game after having his foot stepped on.
This means that Swindon have had to cope without him for the last two months, although this time the defence has not missed him so dearly, with the likes of Stephan Negru stepping up to lead a group which has only conceded more than one goal in a game once without Tafazolli.
The need to do without the 35-year-old is coming to an end, however, as he has been sent for a scan to check that his toe has healed, which would then enable him to be back in training.
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Ian Holloway said that he believed Tafazolli could be back in the next two weeks once Swindon have received the all-clear.
He said: “He is having yet another scan on his toe to make sure it's healed; and once it's healed, once you can’t see a crack, then we can start loading him up again.
“We loaded him at the wrong time because no one read the scan right. The scan was cracked through, and when he came back to training, he was complaining of the pain.
“He then had it looked at by a top geezer in London, who said that it was still broken, so he needed to be off his feet.
“It'll be nowhere near as long as it has been. This would normally be five to six weeks, and I think it's the sixth week. So hopefully it might be another week or two weeks after that he's back because we shouldn't have run him on it before.”
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