AFTER the highs of last season, the question on everyone’s lips was could Swindon Town replicate or even go one better and secure promotion?

We now know the answer to that question is an emphatic no, but back in August hope sprang eternal for every football fan up and down the country and Swindon was no different.

Gone were Massimo Luongo, Wes Foderingham, Andy Williams and Ben Gladwin, while the majority of new faces at the County Ground were untried and untested.

And when Nathan Byrne fired an opening day of the season hat-trick in the 4-1 success over Bradford, little did anyone know that that win would be Mark Cooper’s last at the County Ground or that the Town fans would have to wait until mid-November to enjoy another home victory.

But as has been the case with many a transfer window, Town’s business would not be complete until the late in the day.

As Swindon crashed out of the Capital One Cup at League Two side Exeter City just three days after the Bradford success, two 2-2 draws – against Bury and Port Vale – followed, while month was ended with a 1-0 victory at Southend United and 2-0 home loss to Sheffield United.

Having seen four key players of the play-off campaign leave already, Town fans were bracing themselves for two more to follow.

With Nathan Byrne reportedly refusing a new contract, chairman Lee Power was keen to ensure that the former Tottenham man would not leave for free at the end of the season.

The pacy wing-back followed Luongo and Gladwin to the Championship and joined Wolves for a fee thought to be around £1million.

However, Town’s other prized asset, Yaser Kasim’s move away, despite reported interest from here, there and everywhere, never materialised.

With the squad looking decidedly inexperienced and thin on the ground, Power pull off a coup by bringing back hotshot Nicky Ajose after his contract at Leeds United had been terminated by mutual consent, while burly striker Wes Thomas arrived on a season-long loan from Birmingham City, to be reviewed in December.

Louis Thompson returned to the County Ground for a second loan spell, still not having kicked a ball in anger for parent club Norwich City despite joining them from Swindon 12 months earlier.

Despite a stronger look to the side, fortunes did not get better for Town or for Cooper.

A 1-0 win over Crewe, who were later relegated, followed by a penalty shootout win over Newport County in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy were as good as it got as defeats to Barnsley, Burton Albion and Gillingham followed with September brought to a close with a 2-2 draw at Doncaster.