PHIL Brown has no doubt Swindon Town are capable of finishing inside the League Two play-off places as he prepares for his first game in charge this afternoon.

Brown begins his Town tenure with a trip to Cambridge United, having been appointed as the club’s new manager on Monday in the wake of David Flitcroft’s surprise resignation on March 1.

The former Premier League boss inherits a squad sitting just one point outside the play-off spots with 10 games to go, although Brown is currently short of several key players due to injury.

Brown’s contract at the Energy Check County Ground only runs until the end of the current campaign but ahead of his maiden match at the helm, the 58-year-old is confident it can finish in success.

“Yes, we can be in the top seven,” said Brown, who left Southend United after five years in January.

“There are one or two injuries, but I’ve come into the situation open-eyed knowing that.

“I know what this team and squad is capable of doing.

“Yes, key players are out, but it’s up to the other guys to step up.”

Brown has been thrilled by the response he has received from the Town squad since his arrival and attributes that to the healthy league position the club still find themselves in.

His first task as Swindon manager is to help the team bounce back from last weekend’s disappointing 3-0 defeat at home to Cheltenham Town, and Brown is confident his squad have the qualities to succeed – both at Cambridge today and over the season’s run-in.

“I’ve been impressed with the group of players and the way they’ve applied themselves,” said former Hull City boss Brown.

“A change of manager always lifts a player. To come into a positive environment for a new manager is rare, but there’s still work to do.

“The defeat at home last week was a bad one. It relegated us out of the play-off zone and we’ve now got to climb that mountain again with 10 games to go.

“The level of quality of players at the football club should be in the top part of this division. That’s our task, our job – to get them flying again. We want to get them confident, believing and winning.

“The simple core message is there are plenty of goals in the team – and I want clean sheets.

“We need a foundation of clean sheets, but that doesn’t mean to say we’re not going to play open football.

“We’re still going to have the forward power to create and score chances in the last 10 games.”