Swindon Town head coach Luke Williams rues injuries to Nicky Ajose and Charlie Colkett in Chesterfield loss

Following the 1-0 defeat to fellow relegation battlers Chesterfield on Saturday, Luke Williams made no bones about his feelings towards the unavailability of Nicky Ajose and Charlie Colkett.

The pair, on loan from Charlton and Chelsea respectively, were both ruled out of the Chesterfield loss with injury and Williams was under no illusion that Swindon missed them dearly.

Swindon dominated possession at the County Ground (63 per cent to 37) but the loss of Colkett lead to the Robins being unable to create many clear-cut chances (despite getting 20 shots on goal) and no Ajose hindered Town in scoring any opportunity they did manage to fashion.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Williams said:

"Yeah, it's very easy to say that (Swindon missed Ajose and Colkett). We know for sure that Nicky's going to score if we get him the right pass, we know that him and Jon (Obika) together are a very, very good combination.

"Obviously we know with Nicky, we've been there before, and his record speaks for itself. We know that the combination works with him and Bradley Barry, with him and Jon, with him and Ben (Gladwin), we know the combination works with those players so it's a big loss.

"I think we've seen Charlie's quality. He's got something special. He can see a pass that the others can't, he can hold people off even though he doesn't look like he should be able to hold people off.

"He's developed a good relationship with Rohan (Ince) so it's a big, big, big miss."

In terms of their injuries, Williams does not know the full extent of the pair's problems, however he is not of the opinion that either of them are massively serious.

"We don't know exactly what the time (of recovery) is. It looks like a Grade One, which is the lighter end of the scale, and we hope it's not too serious and both players are recieving some treatment so we hope for a speedy recovery.

"(It's a) hamstring issue (for Ajose). But, like I say, it appears to be on the less serious side of a tear.

"I don't know (if he will be available for Port Vale) until we speak to Charlton and speak to the physio here."

Fellow loanees Lloyd Jones and Fankaty Dabo are not far away from full fitness according to Williams, with the former an unused substitute on Saturday although Dabo did not even make the bench.

"(They are) not too far at all (from full fitness) but, again, it's something we need to look at more closely to get a return date."