The Preview: Chesterfield are compact, skillful and hit by injuries... can Swindon take advantage?

For tragic reasons, it has been an interrupted pre-season for Mark Kennedy.

His late father’s ill-health and passing has, quite understandably, taken up attention and energy at a time when ordinarily he would have been buried in the minutiae of formations, systems and recruitment.

It is a credit to Marcus Bignot that preparations for the new term have continued on as close to seamlessly as could have been expected. Ultimately, these situations are why professional clubs have backroom staff. Then again, for several months in the late winter and spring, Swindon had considered the assistant role unnecessary.