SWINDON Town manager Richie Wellens believes a lack of game preparation time coupled with Mansfield Town’s formidable League Two form will make Saturday’s tie at Field Mill the club’s toughest this season.

Former Swindon boss – and now Mansfield manager – David Flitcroft will be hopeful of defeating his former club for the first time since he departed the Energy Check County Ground in March.

The Stags have lost only one league game out of 22 this season – a 2-1 home defeat to Exeter City in September. Such results have placed Flitcroft’s outfit in the automatic promotion frame, with 41 points secured from their block of fixtures.

Wellens is all too aware of the challenge that faces his side, however, the Town boss insists a ‘front foot’ and ‘aggressive’ approach could see his men upset the odds and gift the club’s fans a late Christmas present.

He said: “Mansfield have lost one game all season, so it will be one of the toughest tests.

“I know David (Flitcroft) very well. His team will be land of the giants – they will be very aggressive and direct.

“Tyler Walker is on-loan there, he’s scoring most weeks. In terms of tests away from home at the moment, they are probably one of three clubs that would be really tough to face.

“We’re going to face a physical battle.

“We’re such an instinctive team. When we are on the front foot and aggressive, we actually look like a good team.

“When we’re passive and we stand off players, we look like a poor team.

“The basics are still there, we defend from set plays well and we play at a high intensity.”

Players enjoyed a day off on Wednesday following low-intensity work on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Wellens revealed that feeding his men too much information over the busy festive period could lead to confusion and the tendency to forget already learnt traits – something which he admits he’s already spotted on the pitch.

He added: “You don’t want to feed too much information – if you do that, by time you get to the fourth and fifth ideas, they have forgot the first and second theories.

“I’ve been here for several league games, and I will work on aspects of our game and think I’ve nailed one part, and we’ll move on.

“But by the time that we’ve moved onto our fifth, sixth or seventh idea, the first one has been forgotten. And you can see that when you watch the DVDs back.

“When you’re working at Premier League level, you tell a player to do something and it will stick.

“We’re getting better, and we will keep improving.”