LEADING Swindon Town goalscorer Michael Doughty might be forced to miss Saturday’s trip to Yeovil due to an ongoing hip injury.

The 25-year-old was substituted towards the end of Town’s opening League Two fixture of the month against Milton Keynes Dons and has since played 108 out of a possible 270 minutes in games against Morecambe, Newport and Bury.

Doughty completed light individual training today and will only find out if he’s fit for selection on Friday afternoon when Town complete their final preparations ahead of Saturday's Yeovil challenge.

The former Peterborough man, whose return to the County Ground on a two-year deal was confirmed in late July following a one-season absence, has proven himself a fans’ favourite, having notched five goals and two assists already this season.

“Michael (Doughty) is still a little bit sore, he completed a little bit of training by himself (on Thursday) – we’ll have a better idea if he can play against Yeovil (on Friday),” said assistant boss Neil McDonald today.

“We’ve got lots of competition for places, certainly in the midfield area. We had a run through tactical stuff on Thursday to keep every player on their toes.

“When we find out who is fit we’ll complete our pre-match work and have a better idea of what team to fit if Michael isn’t fit.”

Meanwhile the tactical dilemma regarding filling the right-back position continues following Kyle Knoyle’s three-game suspension after he picked up a straight red card during the first half of Town’s trip to Morecambe two weeks ago.

Knoyle lunged in late on Shrimps’ Aaron Wilding – Town’s third straight red card in eight league matches this season.

With no appropriate back-up, midfielder James Dunne was forced to play out of his natural position last weekend against Bury.

McDonald admitted filling the right back void is an issue that must be tackled from within the squad if better defensive performances are to follow.

He said: “It’s always difficult to try and play players out of their natural position, especially when you’re playing good teams.

“You have to try and have players playing in their natural position, but we couldn’t do that because of Kyle’s suspension.

“We have to try and find a formula that works without him for the next couple of games.

“It’s easy to say we weren’t at our best last weekend (against Bury). Not just one or two players but everybody fell below the standard we have set, that was the most disappointing thing on the day.

“We got back into the game but conceded another goal and couldn’t find a second goal.

“We’re looking for an improvement from everybody heading into the Yeovil game.”

Elsewhere, Chris Robertson looks set to return to training after missing the start of the season through injury.

The 31-year-old had his protective boot removed in hope that he can rejoin training within the next three weeks.

McDonald added: “Chris (Robertson) has had his boot taken off, that’s settled down a little bit now. I would say he’s two or three weeks away before he can join in with anything.

“We’ve got to build up everything and make sure everything is right for when he starts to play football.”