NO STONE has been left unturned in Swindon Town’s search for the ‘vital’ position of a sports scientist according to manager David Flitcroft as he closes in on his desired target.

The previous occupier of the role, Michael Cooper, was released by the club at the same time as head coach Luke Williams and first team coach Ross Embleton at the end of last season following Swindon’s relegation to League Two.

Swindon advertised for the role online and Flitcroft said that they had 160 applicants for the vacant position, which were whittled down to 12 who were interviewed and the Town boss admits that there was one stand out candidate who they hope to secure in the coming days.

However, Flitcroft, who has brought in Ben Futcher as his number two as his backroom staff takes shape, has stressed the importance of the role in what he is trying to achieve at Swindon.

“It’s going to be a key position,” he said.

“It’s something that I massively believe in and he has got to have the right human skills. It is no good getting someone just out of school who only understands theory, they have got to have done the practical work.

“We are getting closer with a potential signing.

“There is a standout candidate who is outstanding and I am hoping we can get him over the line because he will be a massive coup for the football club.

“It is an important thing. We have tried to get our own training base and we will be overall looking at nutrition, travelling times, preparation, hydration etc.

“You’ve got to track data and make sure your data is good. You’ve got to work with current systems but then you need that human element to tell you maybe why the person wasn’t running as hard as you want him to or how far you want him to and those are the two barometers we look at.

“It is a key component because the whole side of the performance is about nutrition, it’s about hydration, it’s about sleep patterns.

“It’s about high intensity running, distance running and the area is massive.

“Big clubs have got a lot of resources but there will be interns out there to look out for and there are good colleges and universities around that we can tap into and we will do.

“We won’t leave a stone unturned because I am a big believer in getting that side right.”