Bodin says Swindon players often did not know if they were in team before matchday

Former Swindon Town forward Billy Bodin says players sometimes would not know if they had made the starting XI last season until the day of the game.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wiltshire, Bodin, who was released by the Robins earlier this month, explained that manager Ian Holloway would make numerous changes to his side in the run-up to a matchday.

"The team would change throughout the week," Bodin said.

"You would work on something for three or four days, then you would come in on Thursday and things had changed, then again on Friday, and again on Saturday.

"I think I started 12 games, six of them I didn't know about until the day of the game. There were times I came in at 1.30 on Saturday for the game and found out I was back in the team."

While for some, an unexpected selection might come as a welcome surprise, for an experienced professional like Bodin - who has appeared in nearly 480 EFL games - such spontaneity could prove frustrating.

"I don't know if the manager worked like that in the past, but as players you definitely want to have two or three days working on a shape, working on a formation, working on a team," he said.

"That probably didn't help. It didn't help me. You want that re-assurance two or three days before that you can get to grips with the players you are playing with.

"Sometimes something wasn't working on the training pitch and you would come in the next day and it was all change.

"One of the most frustrating things as a player is when you have a couple of good games and then next time around you are in the stands. You want that momentum and that consistency, and you can never get that if you're just chucked in here and there."

Town spent 40 of the 46 matchdays in League Two's top seven last season, but failed to make the play-offs after defeats to rivals Grimsby and Chesterfield in their final two games of the season.

They picked up just nine wins from 23 games after the turn of the year, and are now preparing for a sixth straight season in the fourth tier - their longest time at this level in the club's history.

"As a player it felt like a different vibe and feeling after Christmas," said Bodin.

"The style of play changed, and that was a big impact, even though we kept picking up points and wins.

"I don't think we could have sustained those points playing the way we were, so it was disappointing all round."

Bodin is now looking for a new club after his second spell at the County Ground, and says the meeting in which he was told he was being released was unlike any other he had previously experienced.

"Usually a few days after the last game you get told a time to come in and have a meeting, have a good chat.

"For the first time in my career the manager actually got upset and told me he was sorry for wasting a season of my career.

"I understand football sometimes and it can be cruel. I could see it coming anyway. It's never nice.

"I'll dust myself down and hopefully try and get a club in the near future."