SWINDON Town manager Richie Wellens says the addition of striker Eoin Doyle on loan is unlikely to be the end of his transfer business as he is keen to bring in a new central defender after a serious injury suffered by Dan Ballard.

The 19-year-old signed a season-long loan deal at Town from Premier League side Arsenal over the summer but has seen his County Ground career curtailed after only three appearances after suffering a meniscus injury in the Carabao Cup clash away at Colchester United.

Ballard is expected to be out for at least the remainder of 2019 and has therefore returned to his parent club, meaning Wellens is now on the lookout for additional defensive reinforcements.

“Dan will go back to Arsenal because he will be out for up to five months, which is a huge blow,” said Wellens.

“He did it quite early in the game and fair play to him, it shows what character he has got, he continued for the rest of the game.

“He has had the scan and it’s a meniscus problem and he will be out for up to five months.

“It’s a big blow for him because I believe as the season went on, he would have got stronger for us as he gained that experience.

“It means we are going to have to bring in another centre-back.”

Meanwhile, Wellens indicated he is unlikely to contest the FA charge brought against him following an incident in the midweek cup match at Colchester.

Reports post-match suggested the Town boss had been sent off at the Colchester Community Stadium alongside United assistant manager Steve Ball.

On Thursday it was confirmed that Wellens had been charged in relation to an alleged incident in the tunnel area during the half-time interval.

Wellens has until Monday to respond to the charge but speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s trip to Exeter City in League Two, the Town boss gave no suggestion that he was likely to contest it.

“I might get more fines, so I had better not say anything,” said Wellens.

“Usually in football, if someone does anything to you and you retaliate, you still get punished.

“If someone walks up to you in the street and does something, then you are quite within your right to react in a certain way, depending on what they have done to you.

“Something happened to myself and I reacted in a way that I felt was protecting myself but I have obviously been charged for it.”