Holloway 'needs' win in 1,000th game more than any other

Ian Holloway will take charge of his 1,000th game in English football when Swindon play Grimsby

Swindon boss Ian Holloway says he probably needs to win his 1,000th game managing in English football "more than any other one so far" as he reaches the milestone this weekend.

The Robins face Grimsby at home on Saturday having won only one out of six League Two games since Holloway took over on 26 October and sit two points above the relegation zone.

The 61-year-old joins what he previously called "an elite group" of 26 Englishmen to reach the coaching landmark.

"It is a wonderful thing to sit back and look at but it doesn't matter now, I need to get on and try and win the next game," he told BBC Radio Wiltshire.

"This 1,000th game I probably need to win more than any one I've had so far."

Holloway began his career in football management in 1996 at hometown club Bristol Rovers.

He achieved promotion to the Premier League with Crystal Palace in 2010 and then again with Blackpool in 2013, and took Queens Park Rangers up to the Championship in 2004, all via the play-offs.

His managerial CV also includes Plymouth Argyle, Leicester City and Millwall before a spell at Saturday's rivals Grimsby ended in 2020, his last role before moving to Swindon.

"There's not many people who have already done it and when you look at the names who have done it, what they've had is a passion and belief and enough nous to keep going," Holloway said.

"I worked out that's at least 7,000 days [of my life] - there might be three games in a week but it's not always that and there's pre-seasons as well which you do.

"When you add up my football career as well as my playing career, that's at least 14,000 days. It's an awful large part of your life."

'I feel fresh as a daisy'

Holloway said he can still remember his first time in the dugout for Bristol Rovers' home match against Peterborough United, which they won 1-0.

"I don't feel any different than I did then, it's weird," Holloway said.

"I still feel like I felt then which is marvellous. The older you get things start to pile up on you but I don't feel like that. In here I feel as fresh as a daisy but it is a wonderful thing to sit back and look at.

He added: "If I could unravel it all - you know the old films that the BBC have got in their archive - if you could roll that out if it was all on one reel when would it stop?"