RICHIE WELLENS will be forced to enter the free agent market after club captain Dion Conroy suffered an apparent long-term knee injury during Swindon Town’s 2-0 defeat at home to Newport County on Saturday.
Conroy, 23, slumped to the ground in tears after colliding with Newport skipper Joss Labadie in the centre of the pitch in a 50-50 tackle only five minutes into Town’s current League Two match.
The Swindon captain was then helped off the field by two members of the club’s backroom staff, leading Adam May to replace him, while midfielder Anthony Grant moved into the unfamiliar centre back post.
Unsatisfied with Tom Broadbent’s confidence levels and unwilling to throw potential youngster Taylor Curran into the deep end, Wellens has announced that he will be looking for a centre defender immediately.
Mathieu Baudry, Conroy’s regular center-back partner, will return on Saturday to pair Zeki Fryers against Bradford City.
But Wellens needs quality backup on his team.
“It’s obvious now that we need a centre back, and we’ll try to do something,” Wellens stated.
“It’s about the free agent market, but free agents aren’t always easy to deal with.”
“They believe they are in a position of strength because they can demand more money.” But they’re not in a good position because they don’t have a club and aren’t fit.
“People think we’re fine, and we were fine. But, in football, it only takes one injury to one of our greatest players to change everything.
“Would Liverpool win the league if they lost Virgil Van Dijk?” That is at the highest level.
“At our level, if we lose our best players, it will have a massive impact on us.”
Conroy’s injury had an understandable impact on Town’s performance in the first half, as Newport took a 1-0 lead at halftime courtesy of Mark O’Brien before Jamille Matt scored the visitors’ second late in the second half.
In the long run, Wellens does not anticipate Conroy’s absence affecting his squad’s efficiency levels ahead of three crucial games against in-form Bradford, Plymouth Argyle, and Crewe Alexandra.
“When something like that happens, it can affect you short term,” Wellens added.
“You just saw your teammate on the floor, and it may have an impact on you.”
“We recovered OK in the second half, so I don’t expect Dion’s injury to have any hangover in terms of our performance in the next game.”
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