Mark Kennedy said that winning three points against Cheltenham Town on Saturday is his priority ahead of the cup clash with Bristol Rovers.

In their second Bristol Street Motors Trophy fixture of the season, Swindon have already reached must-win territory against local rivals Bristol Rovers after falling to a 2-1 defeat away at Exeter City in September.

Kennedy said before the game that whilst he will do all he can to win the match, he is still prioritising the fixture against Cheltenham in the league this weekend.

He said: “We want to win every game and we go to win every game – we have to respect the competition and we have to respect the opposition.

“However, we have to be mindful of the group, the squad, and the injuries that we have had so far this season with the players we have got coming back.

“Whether they [the players returning from injury] are ready or not to feature, I am not yet sure.

“We want to rest and recuperate our players as much as we can, sometimes that can be out of your hands and we have dialogue every day about that.

“We always listen to the sports science and performance team and if they don’t think somebody should play then I would always go with their recommendation.

“We have seen in recent weeks that we haven’t had the ability to change players because we have been low in certain areas.

“The bottom line is, without getting away from this game, our priority is Saturday [against Cheltenham] and I won’t shy away from that.”

Town face Rovers in the competition needing a win to have a chance of progressing into the knock-out rounds of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.

Kennedy will come up against League One opposition for the third time in the cups this season, with Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s their remaining opponents, and he said that even a rotated team will be a stern test.

He said: “Bristol Rovers are brilliant opposition, they are a very good side, with an outstanding manager, and they have some real star quality both individually and collectively, and have a very good squad.

“I have been in these situations before where you are playing in the cup and you may make five or six changes but the quality the team is bringing in is very good.

“We are playing some really strong opposition and it will be a very tough game, that is for sure.”