By:
Mark Hendry
Aaron Drinan was at the centre of a baffling administration error as Swindon Town faced Luton on Tuesday.
The striker, 27, came off the bench in the Vertu Cup – formerly named the EFL Trophy – clash at Kenilworth Road.
It seemed a relatively innocuous decision from manager Ian Holloway who was looking to preserve his side’s passage to the next round of the tournament.
However it became a bit farcical following interruption from officials after they were made aware of an issue.
The fact the Drinan had not been named on the official visiting team sheet from before kick off.
The mix-up would cause an almighty delay in the game – eight minutes to be precise – and spark confusion.
According to the Irish Examiner, Holloway would even offer to swap the player back off the pitch.
Swindon Town fielded player not on team sheet pre-match
However Luton gaffer Jack Wilshere is believed to have motioned that it was not necessary to do so.
It was an avoidable moment of madness on the sidelines which prevented the flow of the football.
And Holloway was left perplexed at how his club could be to blame.
The former Blackpool and Crystal Palace boss blamed those in charge of digitalising the admin.
And he complained over the “major whoopsie” which could still come back to haunt his club.
“When we used to write the team-sheet down, it was never wrong,” Holloway told BBC after the game.
“But when it’s on a iPad and not shown to us, how can I say that’s my team?
“It’s a major whoopsie by the officials, I would suggest. So is that us?”
Ian Holloway left confused over Swindon vs Luton Town error
It remains to be seen whether or not the Football Association (FA) will take action against Swindon over the mistake.
Worst case scenario would see The Robins booted out of the competition over the error.
The visitors would win the game in the 90 minutes thanks to goals from Will Wright and Filozofe Mabete.
Jerry Yates’ early penalty had given the hosts a lead but that was cancelled out before the break.
And it was at half-time that Republic of Ireland under-21s star Drinan was introduced to the action.
It was certainly an entertaining fixture from the round of 16 in the competition.
But it was not the only one.
Elsewhere Plymouth Argyle narrowly edged out Bristol Rovers in front of their own crowd in an enthralling 4-3 victory at Memorial Stadium.
Huddersfield also saw off Rotherham comfortably, 3-0, as Bolton lost at home to Port Vale.
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