SLOPPINESS and ill-discipline in training will result in players losing their right to feature on Swindon Town’s first-team starting sheet, vows manager Richie Wellens.

Wellens is already gathering key opinions on individuals ahead of the looming January transfer window as he nears the completion of his second week of training.

After losing his first game in charge at the Energy Check County Ground 4-0 against Carlisle United last Saturday, Wellens is hoping to reverse Town’s fortunes when heading north to face mid-table Port Vale at Vale Park tomorrow.

The 38-year-old quickly underlined his dos and don’ts to his squad regarding life outside of Saturday afternoons and training – that includes time management and professionalism.

He said: “A lot of work that is done at a football club – in my opinion – should be done in pre-season.

“If a player is late because of a crash on the motorway, then that can’t be helped.

“But if a player is late by two or three minutes because of their sloppiness, then I will not stand for that.

“With regards to training, if players are asked to train and it’s a cool down day, then they can relax and stretch.

“They can do whatever it takes to get their body right.

“But when we train, we train properly with 100 per cent. If you train at 100 per cent, it will become second nature when they go onto the pitch.

“Finding bits of sloppiness in training frustrates me. We’ll get to the bottom of that.

“I’m getting my opinions, but those opinions will be more concrete when I watch them in games.

“As the weeks go by, I’ll get a better base with regards to the players.”

Wellens’ playing days touched the edge of football’s transition period from a social game to a modern-day sport dominated by sports-science.

With data regarding players’ step-count, sprint frequencies and heart rate available to him in an instant, the Swindon boss insists he has arrived at SN1 with no intention of treading water.

He said: “If we play on a Saturday and don’t have a game until the Saturday after, then I’m fine.

“If we got beat, I’d like them to have a bit of respect and not go out in Swindon to see fans – I don’t think that’s right.

“You can’t manage players all of the time. We are professional footballers and therefore should be professional.

“If there’s a game on a Tuesday after Saturday then no chance can anyone go out.

“I’ve not come to this club to tread water, I’ve come here to make success and we all need to have our standards.

“If certain people slip, then we’ll pull them up on it. Hopefully the majority lead by examples.

“Sir Alex Ferguson used to know every single bouncer in Manchester. But the game has changed from the 80s.

“You could go out then and have a drink because you knew everyone else on the pitch was doing that too.

“But sports science has come in, and you don’t want teams to steal a march.”