PRESS CONFERENCE LIVE: Newport County v Swindon Town

That concludes today's press conference. Thank you for joining us.

Garner on Anthony Grant:

'For him the fact he went to red list countries and had to quarantine, and then the way he has gone away with Jamaica this time and he still hasn't trained with us yet is frustrating. We are paying a players wages and he has probably spent more time with his country in the last 2 or 3 months than he has with us.

"That has been a frustration but it is what it is. He wants to represent his country and we understand that, it's a great honour for him and his family and we just have to try and manage that process. The next international break isn't until March so we know we have these players until then and that can paint a different picture.

"I wouldn't say it's hard to manage the situation, it is what it is. The international call-ups take precedence and we have to release the players. We make the best of the situations and we always look at the solution and the best way to move forward. We don't dwell on negatives and we try to remain positive and aim to win as many matches as we possibly can."

Garner on fitting returning players in:

"It hasn't been as difficult to fit returning international players in as it was last time because we didn't have a game so they haven't missed playing time. Players were back earlier this time as well. Kaine Kesler-Hayden has trained all week and had 45 minutes for England last week, Jonny Williams has been training with Wales and although he didn't play he was back yesterday and has 2 days training going into Saturday and JoJo was back in Wednesday.

On this occasion, it is only Anthony Grant that hasn't trained with us and that has made the process earlier than in previous windows."

Garner on Newport expectations:

"They are a strong team with a big squad of lots of forward players that they can rotate and change. Their front two are in great form at the moment and we know we have to do well against them. We have to focus on us though and need to impose our style and we will look to do that on Saturday and come away with 3 points."

Garner on defensive reorganisation:

"We have options and players that can come in. We have academy players who can possibly step in and we can change shape if we need to. We have the adaptability within the squad to change systems and the way we play if we need to."

Garner on the past week:

"It's been huge having that break and the weekend rest was great for everyone. We had a really good training rest and they needed that rest both physically and mentally. There has been a real buzz this week with a really good week of training and it's been great to get a whole week of training done with us now unlikely to get a whole week given the upcoming games. Missing the Crawley game was the right thing to do as we didn't want to weaken ourselves for that game."

Garner on International players returning:

"Jonny Williams, Jojo, and Kaine-Kesler are all great and are back with us. it was brilliant for JoJo to get through to the World Cup qualifiers. Kaine played 45 mins for England and has been back in all week. Jonny returned to us yesterday but Anthony Grant is not yet back in training."

Garner on injuries:

"Romoney's ankle has settled down but he is still in the stages of rehab. He is out of tomorrow but will hopefully be back soon. Mathieu Baudry has damaged his tendons and he is now out for a while. We were genuinely upset when we got the news as he is a top professional. He adds lots of value to the group even when he isn't physically fit. We are looking at quite a lengthy bit of time without him."

Garner on Aguiar and Parsons:

"The only question we asked was about whether we wanted them both for the EFL Trophy games. Harry is very mature for his age and asked to go out on loan. It was about timing it to make it the best time for him. We are really pleased with how they are both doing there."

Garner on FA Cup tie v Walsall:

"We want to try and get round to that 3rd round and it is a good draw for us. It's not a long journey and I'm sure we will take lots of away fans with us."

Garner on Academy debuts:

"I was really pleased with Minturn and Winchcombe. It helped having Rob Hunt in that three-man defence with them and it was a real positive for us. A lot of academy players have been training with the first-team and we want to give them pathways to advance."

Garner on Newport:

"We have to look at Newport and James is early into his tenure at Newport but they have had a good start to the league. It's a difficult place to go and a game we are looking forward to. The pitch is great there now and they have put a lot of investment into that. It looks a good surface and won't be a factor on Saturday.

We learnt a lot about ourselves and also Newport in that EFL Trophy game. They have different ways of playing and it helps us going into Saturday."

Garner on the past week:

"Everyone got what they needed in the past week. We were very happy with the EFL Trophy game and then we had a really good week on the training ground and gave everyone the weekend off. I spent the weekend with my family that was wonderful and I was on full-time Dad duties Saturday and Sunday."

Ben Garner has now joined us.

We are in the zoom call and waiting for Ben Garner to join us.

Good morning Swindon fans and welcome back to another Swindon Town pre-match press conference as the Robins travel to Newport County in League Two tomorrow.