The 2025/26 season has been another frustrating one for Glatzel, as after having the entirety of the second half of last term wiped out with a hamstring tear, he has had another succession of injuries keeping him out of action.

The former German youth international was in good form during pre-season and scored against Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup, but has had problems ever since.

He pulled out of the opening day at Northampton Town the day before with a niggling hamstring issue, and has been in and out with a knee injury as well.

During October, the extent of that was investigated, and he was sent to have surgery to cut a stray piece of cartilage out of his knee.

That was initially expected to keep him out for around a month, but several weeks on, Ian Holloway confirmed that Glatzel would be missing for another four or five weeks, so he will not be seen before December.

The 25-year-old penned a new contract keeping him at Swindon until 2029 on the eve of the season, but has only played 212 minutes of League Two football since signing it, which has been very frustrating for Town.

Holloway has had consistent injury problems among his attacking players that have limited his options, culminating in Dan Butler and Tom Nichols starting as the wingers against Rochdale.

Joseph Hungbo has had similar issues to Glatzel, where he has been in and out of the team; Ollie Palmer missed two months with a knee injury; Joe Snowdon has been hampered by his hamstring, as have Fletcher Holman and Danny Butterworth; Louis Millard missed a few games; and Harry Smith is still recovering from his anterior cruciate ligament injury.

The hope will be that these problems ease in the second half of the season, which would give Holloway a wealth of players to choose from in attacking areas, but Town’s injury luck to this point makes that difficult to rely on.

In pre-season, the front three of Glatzel, Aaron Drinan, and Holman had been envisaged as the starting attack, with their combination of pace and work without the ball seen as pivotal to the football Holloway wanted to play.

Injuries have meant that this plan has not come to fruition, with the 63-year-old admitting that he is presently playing a different formation than he would be with other players available.