FA Youth Cup adds to Holloway's selection conundrum during busy week

Ian Holloway said that Swindon Town under-18s having their FA Youth Cup third-round tie adds another layer of difficulty ahead of Wycombe Wanderers.

Swindon visit Wycombe in the Vertu Trophy round of 32 as part of a busy week of away games for the club, including the under-18s heading to Loftus Road to face Queens Park Rangers.

Holloway said that not being able to give the opportunity to his academy players in the trophy as normal has created further difficulty with team selection.

He said: “That has been the biggest problem as it would have given me an opportunity to look at them.

“I am going to go to the QPR game and I am really proud of what our team might be able to do against them.

“I am also thinking about the long-term and whether I want to bring others in during the window that might block some of the young lads coming through.

“It is a bit of a killer for me but I am trying to knit together the whole thing and we should be churning out player after player.

“The youth team had all sorts of plaudits for their run last year and I think they have a lot of gems in there.”

Holloway said that although he would take the match seriously, he needed to be sensible with a group of players who have already played a lot.

He said: “Shapes and systems have gone out of the window as I have to find something to fit a team which will not risk any of the lads who have played almost all of the games – which is unbelievably hard.

“I can start giving them the information about Bradford now without ignoring this game.

“The number of minutes that some people have played is too much for them to be at their very best if they have another game on Tuesday and another game on Saturday.

“I am not on about them being tired, it is about being physically and mentally ready for the ups, downs, and knocks that we are going to get on Saturday fighting for three points – three points is all I am thinking about.

“Do I need this right now? Not really. Does the club need this right now? Not really.

“But we are delighted that we beat Tottenham and Bristol Rovers and got through as all of these things will add up in the end.”