THE task of a midfielder is a complex one and, like the line-up of the best dog in show at Crufts, they often come in many different shapes and sizes.

At Swindon Town, the role of the midfielders is an important one as they provide an outlet for the defenders looking to pass out from the back before moving the ball forward to start the next attack, and then finally, they are asked to provide the support for the front men.

On Saturday, that task was handed to three central midfielders as Luke Williams opted to go with two strikers against Port Vale at the County Ground.

However, with both Luke Norris and Nathan Delfouneso not up to speed with the game due to an ankle injury the previous weekend and a lack of a pre-season respectively, the workload on the midfield was added to as they were forced to press Vale and make up for the lack of running up top.

It also seemed that the midfield trio of Yaser Kasim, Michael Doughty and Anton Rodgers were all occupying a congested area, with Vale’s second striker often falling back to make it five in midfield for the visitors.

This meant that the amount of play coming through the middle in the first half was limited, with most of Town’s attacking prowess coming out wide down the right flank instead.

It seemed clear that there was a pocket of space for Town to exploit as the gap between Port Vale’s midfield and defence was a large one.

Luke Williams had noticed the same thing and in the second half, asked Doughty to try and occupy that hole with almost immediate effect.

Jamie Sendles-White, one of Town’s three central defenders, picked him out in the space before he was allowed to turn and drive towards the area and feed Bradley Barry in the box.

The arrival of Conor Thomas for Rodgers only allowed Doughty to enjoy that role further forward more in the second half and he revelled in it as he dictated Town’s forward movement.

In Town’s midfield, Williams has a way of changing games without changing personnel and it could prove vital in tight games in the future.