ESCORTING winger Lloyd Isgrove to Swindon Town’s dressing room in a hurried and efficient manner was something Richie Wellens felt necessary after his standout performance against Coventry City last weekend.

Isgrove was replaced by Ralph Graham with seven minutes remaining in Town’s penultimate pre-season friendly against the Sky Blues on Saturday, and was on the receiving end of a grand reception from the County Ground faithful when leaving the field.

He later agreed to a one-year deal at the club, much to the delight of supporters.

However, Wellens admits he was fearful of the 26-year-old being poached after his impressive performance against Mark Robins’ City.

In fact, the Town boss even feared that Robins himself would have a word with the former Southampton man after he left the field.

Wellens said: “I was going to bring him off at half-time against Coventry – he was playing too well.

“With 88 minutes gone, I told Tommy Wright to get Lloyd in the showers and away from Mark Robins. I was scared Mark might have a quiet word in his ear – and Coventry could probably pay more than us.

“I made sure he was out of everyone’s way, and got the deal done the day after."

It’s part of a delicate balancing act Wellens continues to learn regarding trialists.

Publicly revealing trialists’ names has its benefit, and allows them to play in game situations.

On the flip side, keeping a player under wraps hides a player’s identity – but excludes them from pre-season friendlies.

The former appears to be Wellens’ preference.

He said: “We had a number a number of trialists when we played Brimscombe & Thrupp, and no one knew them.

“But when you’ve got someone that has played for Southampton in the Premier League and Barnsley in the Championship, has bleached blonde hair and is 3ft tall – everyone is going to know him.

“It’s difficult to keep him away from the media, so what can you do? Do you keep him under cover and just watch him in training, and offer him a contract based on that?

“Or do you put him in the public eye (in trial games) where people can see him? We have to do the latter, because we need to put him in a game environment to see if he’s worth signing.

“Since Lloyd has been here, his energy and enthusiasm have been spot on – that’s why he’s got a contract.”