Swindon Town take defender Rhys Sharpe on trial

Ex-Notts County defender Rhys Sharpe has joined Swindon Town on trial as the club look to add to their injury-stricken back line.

Sharpe started for a Swindon U23 development side in Wimbledon last night (Monday), a game which the Robins lost 3-1 with Jordan Stewart getting on the scoresheet for Swindon.

Brad Barry, James Brophy and Lawrence Vigouroux have all recently been followed on Twitter by Sharpe.

Town are currently desperate for defenders as Jamie Sendles-White has been ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury and Liverpool loanee Lloyd Jones is also sidelined as is Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill, however Brophy also featured against Wimbledon last night.

Furthermore, Darnell Furlong will miss the trip to Eastleigh in the FA Cup on Friday night due to suspension.

The 22-year-old centre back spent his youth career at Derby County, but failed to make a single appearance for the Rams.

He was loaned out to Shrewsbury Town, then in League Two, for a month in 2015 where he featured three times before he returned to parent club Derby and was then released.

A matter of months later he was picked up by Notts County and signed a two-year deal at Meadow Lane, but his contract was ended by mutual consent on August 12 of this year. Sharpe played five games for Notts.

Sharpe has international experience too, with seven Northern Ireland U21 caps to his name from between 2013 and 2015.

Swindon previously took a striker on trial this season, but decided against signing him due to "fitness issues".

It is not yet clear whether Sharpe will be signed in time for Eastleigh, if at all.