SWINDON Town are sweating over the fitness of Raphael Branco after the defender appeared to suffer a reoccurrence of his groin injury in last night’s pre-season friendly defeat at home to Swansea City.

The Brazilian limped off three minutes into the second half of Town’s 3-0 loss at the County Ground and there is now much concern that he will be ruled out of the start of the new League One season on August 6 when Swindon host Coventry City.

Branco had surgery on the problem at the end of last season but after watching him limp off clutching his groin, Town head coach Luke Williams revealed that the player was ‘distraught’ in the changing rooms following the game amid fears he could now be set for another spell on the sidelines.

“We are concerned. He has had surgery this summer and it looks initially like it is the same problem that we thought we had solved with the surgery,” Williams told BBC Wiltshire.

“It is early, too early probably to say exactly but in the next 24 to 48 hours, we should know where he is.

“There was absolutely no chance of him playing on. The boy is obviously very upset now.

“He had that surgery right at the end of last season and it’s taken him a long time to get fit enough to train. He’s trained extremely hard, he’s got himself up to the same level as the rest of the squad.

“He’s sacrificed a lot of his summer, pretty much all of his summer, really, so understandably the boy is distraught.”

With Branco just one of three players who can play at the back in Town’s preferred 3-5-2 formation, it would leave Town desperately short of cover should he be ruled out.

Skipper Nathan Thompson and Jamie Sendles-White are Town’s only other centre back options and Williams conceded that the injury only served to reinforce the necessity that they must strengthen their defensive ranks.

Williams said: “It’s something we are all aware of. We need more players in those key positions and we need the right quality of player as well and I think it’s just highlighted it even more with that injury.”