Swindon Town have been putting a new clause in deals to prevent them from being disrupted by loan recalls this season. The 2025/26 season joined a long line of recent Swindon campaigns that have been impacted by important players leaving during the January transfer window. Finley Munroe’s unique blend of attacking and defensive capabilities were crucial in Swindon’s pursuit of the automatic promotion places, but without him, Town fell away. The same happened in 2023/24 with Dan Kemp going back to Milton Keynes Dons and Jake Young to Bradford City, and it was threatened in 2019/20, when Eoin Doyle was recalled by Bradford and Jerry Yates by Rotherham United, although both would eventually come back. Ian Holloway was deeply frustrated by the experience with Munroe, having expected that Aston Villa would extend his contract and he would stay, or that he might go to Bristol City, with whom Swindon had agreed for Munroe to come back on loan. Read more Swindon season ticket sales fall behind rivals ahead of new campaign Holloway's Magna Carta: Town players sign commitment to set standards Who will be in the playoff hunt? The Big League Two 2026/27 Season Preview That has led Holloway to operate differently with loans this year, with Swindon looking for a guarantee that players would not be taken back if they had played a certain proportion of the minutes prior to January. The decision is believed to have seen Town miss out on targets this summer, but they are happy with that if it prevents disruption down the line. This was revealed with the addition of James Debayo from Hull City, with Holloway mentioning that as a key reason that he liked the young midfielder when he joined. He said: “There is no callback, just in case any of our fans are worried. I don’t want what happened last year when we lost Finley to happen again. We have got it so that he can be with us the whole time.” Town have since added Joseph Hungbo and Sam Inwood on loan from Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers, respectively, to bolster the squad. Hungbo, in particular, earned rave reviews against Cardiff City for his driving runs and pinpoint crossing, whilst Inwood also impressed with his composed defensive ability, leaving some already feeling the anxiety that has been felt with Munroe and others in previous seasons. But Holloway revealed that he had been prepared, and has the same agreement in place with Wigan and Bolton, so Swindon are not left high and dry in January. He said: “I am delighted to get them. Everything's in our hands. We can do things that can keep them after the other window, so the mistake that we made last year won't happen this year.” Next fixture: vs Grimsby (away, 2027-02-27) (16th in the table).