DARREN Ward will be a part of yet another new defensive line for Swindon Town this evening but the Robins captain has vowed to not let the constant change interfere with his team’s push for a place at Wembley.

Ward has been the one constant in a rearguard that has, at one time or another, featured a combination of Grant Hall, Raphael Rossi Branco, Troy Archibald-Henville, Nathan Thompson, Nathan Byrne, Jay McEveley, Jack Barthram and Jamie Reckord alongside him, and the back four will take on a new look again tonight for the visit of Peterborough United after Thompson picked up a two-match ban following his 10th booking of the season against Colchester United.

The veteran centre-back, who is expected to shrug off the after-effects of a minor knock sustained on Friday night, stressed Town will be able to cope with their selection problems.

“It’s not ideal. We’ve used quite a few different formations this year. I think I’ve played right of the three, centre of the three, right of the two, left of the two with goodness knows how many players either side,” he told the Advertiser.

“Monday is going to be a really tough game and obviously we’re going to have two key players out but because of the importance of the game I think everyone is going to give their best and put in a good performance.

“It’s football, it happens and it can be frustrating. You look at teams like Brentford and Wolves and all of these teams have had players who’ve played in more or less the same team week in and week out. That’s the way it is and we’ve got to keep working at it because we’re on a run now and we’ve got to keep going.

“We have a very young squad and we have to focus on what the most important thing is, and that’s to perform against Peterborough. We have to make sure we show up on Monday and we give our best.

“We’ve been on the brink of putting in some very good performances and good wins. Our last game against Peterborough, I thought, stood out because we do have character and resilience when we want to. We’ve got to find a way to bring that out and make sure we perform on the day.”

One bonus for Ward ahead of the visit of Posh is his knowledge of the visitors’ new signing from Bournemouth, Josh McQuoid.

“I know Josh well. I was with him at Millwall, my brother’s with him at Bournemouth and I’ve played against him many times,” he said.

“He’ll be up for it, he’s a good player.

“You can see they’ve got quite deep pockets and they’ve been able to spend their money but what I think we’ve got here is a very good side and we’re getting stronger week by week.”