RICHIE Wellens was tight-lipped when asked about the possibility of Swindon Town top goalscorer Eoin Doyle being recalled by Bradford City in January after he was made unavailable by his parent club for Saturday’s FA Cup first-round clash away at Cheltenham Town.

Doyle was one of two on-loan players to be made unavailable for Saturday’s dramatic 1-1 draw in Gloucestershire – the other being Shrewsbury Town midfielder Anthony Grant.

Last month, Irish striker Doyle revealed to the Adver he had received no indication from Bradford that they would call on his services at the turn of the year when the January transfer window opens.

But when asked post-match at Cheltenham at the weekend if either Bradford or Shrewsbury had made any reference to recalling either player in January after neither was made available in the FA Cup, Wellens declined to comment specifically.

But he did say: “With Eoin Doyle’s situation, he can’t play for any other club.

“He will either play for us, or he’ll play for Bradford. It’s not like another team is going to come in and offer him a fresh contract.

“Within the rules, that’s not possible. Last season at Bradford didn’t go well for him, they got relegated, and this season didn’t start well for him either.

“Bradford made a decision to free up some money and get some other players in. We respect that decision and would love to keep him on board.

“We’ll just have to see where he goes.”

Swindon were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw against their Gloucestershire rivals at Whaddon Road after Cheltenham substitute Alex Addai netted an equaliser in the concluding seconds of the game.

Addai’s strike occurred two minutes after Jerry Yates sparked scenes of jubilation in the packed away end when he appeared to have booked the visitors’ spot in the second round with an injury time strike of his own.

Understandably frustrated that his side will have to take care of a midweek replay, Wellens wasn’t too hard on his players after the full-time whistle.

The Swindon boss praised his team’s performance and the attitude of some 1,000-plus travelling supporters.

Wellens said: “The performance was excellent, and our fans were exceptional. Maybe we’re just cursed at Cheltenham.

“Cheltenham stuck in there, but it’s a blow for us. We didn’t want the extra game and would rather be in the draw ourselves.

“We’ll look at the draw, it’s big for what we need going forward financially. I don’t think any supporter can have a problem, we had to make changes but looked as fluid as ever.”