AS THE 2016/17 Football League season reached a third of the way through last weekend Swindon fittingly marked the occasion, leaving the field 4-0 down at half-time at Scunthorpe.

It’s hard to imagine this time last year, when Raphael Rossi Branco was by far one of the most improved players at Town, but on Saturday the defender and centre back partner Conor Thomas endured a nightmare.

On another day this season I could easily be pointing out a different set of poor performances and that’s the issue.

With key players out injured it falls on four or five of the current side, who are decent squad players but shouldn’t be playing 30-plus games a season, and it’s something they’re not ready for.

This isn’t a new subject. Many supporters called for some new additions during the summer.

Town need players with some real Football League experience behind them.

It’s no secret chairman Lee Power only wants to buy young players as they have more chance of a higher resale value. That makes perfect business sense, but the strategy leaves out players Town are crying out for.

It seems Lee Power has two choices when the transfer window opens in January, spend money on transfers and loans, or watch us continue to struggle.

Tomorrow we get to put aside the nightmare of our league campaign and set our eyes on cup football, as Town travel to Hampshire to take on Eastleigh, live on BBC2.

Let’s be honest, the BBC hasn’t picked this fixture so the nation can witness Town’s epic triumph in the first round - it’s where they can see the most likely upset taking place.

The entire country will be rooting for ‘plucky underdogs’ Eastleigh against ‘nasty league side’ Town.

Of course, I was one of those enjoying Salford City beating Notts County in last year's first round. An upset is great to watch, but this game may be crucial for Luke Williams’ tenure.

If we witness a humiliation, the chairman will surely have no choice but to find an older, experienced head to work alongside our head coach going forward, as sacking Williams seems a total no-go.