Chesterfield warned to watch out for "Messi-like" Swindon Town star | OneFootball

FLW's Swindon Town fan pundit has identified the key threat for Chesterfield to keep an eye this weekend

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Swindon Town will be looking to get back to winning ways this weekend when they face Chesterfield.

The Robins are without a win in either of their last two league fixtures, losing to Harrogate Town last time out.

Recent form has ensured that the club won’t be in too much danger of sliding back into the relegation battle, but a good string of results could still bring them into top seven contention.

With 14 games remaining, Swindon are 11 points adrift of the play-off places, so will need to put some wins together to make up that gap, starting on Saturday against Chesterfield.

Danny Butterworth threat highlighted

When asked which one Robins player Chesterfield should be looking out for this weekend, FLW’s Swindon fan pundit Ciaran Daniel mentioned Danny Butterworth.

Harry Smith is another obvious choice, but he believes that the 25-year-old could provide that spark to change the game due to his unpredictability.

“I think it goes without saying there’s one player that Chesterfield should be wary of in these Swindon ranks, and that’s definitely Harry Smith — our top goal scorer for the season,” Daniel told Football League World.

“He can score with his head, feet, any part of his body pretty much, but I think they’ll already be very aware of him.

“A player that they might not be looking [at] or might not know about, that they might not necessarily think of is where Danny Butterworth plays.

“He can score from a very long range, he can also have big, driving runs into the box out of nowhere, he can beat two or three men at a time, so he might look like he’s sat on the halfway line at one point and the next thing is the phase of play is in the box and he’s carried the ball the whole way, beating men on his way.

“And you don’t know what he’s going to do next, is he going to cross, is he going to shoot? He’s always got that element of surprise, and he can score from long range, he’s done it a couple of times this season.

“His goal at Accrington was a Messi-like run and finish from a range which nobody really expected.

“I think that’s something he’s done a couple of time this season, he’s scored against Barrow earlier on in the season away from home, just from taking a long range shot, he’s not afraid to shoot.

“He’s also got an eye for a pass, so I think he’ll be a player to watch out for Chesterfield, if he does play — obviously, he might not play if Ollie Clarke is fully fit — but I’d be surprised not to see him involved at any point during the day.

Tom Nicholls’ danger to Chesterfield

Daniel has also named Tom Nicholls as someone that Chesterfield should be wary of this weekend, claiming that he will surely provide at least one assist in the game.

“Another player that they’ll probably be more familiar with to watch out for is Tom Nicholls, he’ll pop up with an assist no doubt at some point,” he continued.

“So he’s another one to watch.

“I would say there are three main threats going forward at the moment, and I think the front three will likely be Smith, Nicholls and Butterworth.

“He’s been on form lately and worked his way back into the team.

“He’s just the kind of player where you never know what he’s going to do, he’s got a hell of a shot on him as well.

“The other is Joel Cotterill as well, as he scored a goal of the season contender in our last home game against Port Vale, so there’s a few long range efforts to be watching for for Chesterfield.”

Swindon are currently 17th in the League Two table going into this weekend’s round of action.

Swindon need wins to make something of this season

If Swindon are going to make something of the end of their campaign, then they will need to put together a winning run to get into play-off contention.

They are 12 clear of the bottom two, and 11 behind the top seven, putting them in a balanced place in the table.

They have a number of players that can provide a threat to a team like Chesterfield, but they have to make the most of that.