PLAYER-COACH David Colclough has labelled this weekend’s clash with Essex Blades as a ‘must win’ tie for his Swindon Shock side as they look to distance themselves from the National League Division Three South relegation places.

With just two wins from eight games since being promoted last season, Colclough’s troops are in desperate need of a win if they are to retain their Division Three status.

Shock will take some confidence into the game as Blades are one of the two teams they have been victorious against so far this term.

However, Colclough has revealed Swindon are still without star man Spencer Wells as well as Chris Cole, leaving them with a big hole in their side defensively.

“At the moment, Blades are one place above us in the table but we managed to beat them at home, so we need to win away now,” he said.

“The bottom two teams will end up getting relegated and at the moment, we are second-from-bottom, so we really need to get a win.

“We won’t have Chris and Spencer is still out with his back injury but we pick up Dom Sajovic and we also have Lee Hobbis back full-time.

“At the moment, we don’t have that size that you need on defence. But we have beaten this team before so we just need to do what we did before and get down to business.”

Wells has been a big miss for Shock so far in 2017-18, with the 27-year-old only featuring three times during the campaign.

Those three appearances came at the start of the season in the National Cup and National Shield, and Colclough rues playing him in those games instead of saving him for the league campaign.

Colclough has also called the commitment of his troops into question as he believes too many players are coming up with ‘excuses’ not to play or train.

“I almost wish I didn’t play Spencer in those cup and shield games and had just saved him for our National League games,” said Colclough.

“The last time he played, he turned to me on the bench and said he couldn’t move, and we lost out best player.

“Recently I’ve had to start playing a bit more so Antonio Wilburn can have a bit of a break. I’m hoping Spencer can come back.

“We need to sit down and talk about commitment, even if people can’t play, they can still come to training. When you’re winning everyone shows up, but when you are losing people keep coming out with excuses.”