Swindon Town dispatched with another local Non-League side as Harry Smith netted a double in a 3-1 victory over Melksham Town.

Smith was potent as he scored twice inside ten minutes after former Town man Ralph Graham had given Melksham a third-minute lead before Paul Glatzel tapped in a sweaty goal with the last touch of the match.

Town are now four games into their pre-season schedule, so what did this game tell us as the build-up to Chesterfield continues?

Harry Smith will be a leader for this team.

Smith scoring twice and probably feeling annoyed not to come away with more is the obvious storyline from this game, but his overall displays have consistently caught the eye. Mark Kennedy spoke about being incredibly happy with his performance against Swansea City on Saturday before he added his first goals at Melksham. The striker has been a threat in every game and has also been the main vocal leader. Sitting closer to the pitch in smaller crowds lets you hear a lot of what is going on and the striker’s voice is one that any fan who has been to a friendly will know well. He was demanding standards and intensity even late on at Hungerford and was organising from the front all evening at The Oakfield Stadium. Ollie Clarke has been the captain and leads by example, but Smith will be a key voice in that dressing room.

The trialists are being trimmed down.

Town were down to three trialists in this game with no goalkeepers and all seem to be being thoroughly evaluated. Trialist C (number 34) has played every game and looked sturdy as a young player being used out of his natural position at centre-back rather than as a left-back. One trialist was confirmed to be Jai Rowe and he was also moved around. He started in the middle of the back three and looked a little bit uncomfortable, although his speed in recovery was useful once or twice. He then switched to right wing-back after the break. A handful of driving runs caused problems for Melksham as he looked like another exciting attacking option, although Sobowale and Joel McGregor have both impressed there. Trialist A (number 11) was probably the most disappointing of the trio, he took up good positions down the left but was unable to make the most of those situations and will have been frustrated by that.

Swindon look to be a threat from set pieces.

Smith’s second goal came from a corner and there could have been more goals scored from those situations. The added height to the team brought hope for additional threat from dead balls and the Love Train was busted out a few times as Melksham struggled to contain runners. The designated taker does not seem to be set as Jake Cain and Will Wright were both taking corners, but Swindon have come close a few times in pre-season already and now have the goal to show for their work adding a physical presence.

Saidou Khan started to look at home in a more advanced role.

Khan has probably been the most disappointing player so far this pre-season, not being heavily involved as he has mostly been deployed at the base of the midfield three. However, there was a marked improvement after the break when he swapped with Clarke to play as one of the more advanced midfielders. This got him into the game more and played one particularly incisive through ball that Smith could have scored from. This move also didn’t detract from Clarke’s strong play as he still got involved in the attack, so could be a solution moving forwards.