CHAIRMAN Lee Power insists “everything will stay as it is’’ in his Swindon Town strategy as the club battles to escape the League One relegation zone.

In an interview given to Sky Sports News presenter Jim White on national radio station TalkSPORT this morning, Power defended the arrival of close friend Tim Sherwood as director of football, amid mounting criticism over the former Aston Villa and Tottenham chief’s role at the County Ground.

Reiterating that Luke Williams was now back in charge of selection and tactical decisions at the club, following yesterday’s confirmation from Williams that Sherwood had stepped back from front-line duties, Power also insisted that the head coach now had the tools at his disposal and insisted there were “no more excuses’’ as Town desperately battle to avoid slipping into League Two.

Power also defended Sherwood’s absence from the 2-1 derby defeat by Oxford earlier this month, saying his friend had been conducting “football business for the club.’’

Asked about Sherwood’s arrival amid a blaze of publicity in November, Power said: “One million per cent it was an old pals’ act. I’m very fortunate that Tim’s a friend of mine and has been for very many years.

“Tim came in in the middle of November, when the football club was just above the relegation zone. Results hadn’t been great.

“I’ve always been in charge of recruitment there (Town) and this season it hasn’t been great and mistakes have been made.

“Luke’s a young coach, a very good coach. It’s his first managerial job and we felt he needed help.

“Tim obviously was a visitor to the club many times and, with Luke’s blessing, I asked Tim if he would come in to assess the whole football club, not come in as manager, otherwise he would have been called manager.

“He (Sherwood) turned down two Championship jobs only weeks before so if he wanted to be a manager, he would have taken those at a higher level.’’

On Sherwood missing the Oxford clash, he added: “That was the only game he hasn’t been at, every game since November he’s been at apart from that one.

“He was away doing some football business for the club that needed attending to and the only day that could be done was on that Sunday. That’s where he was.’’

Sherwood’s role at Town has been the subject of constant speculation since his arrival at the club, but Power dismissed suggestions his arrival had caused confusion among the playing staff as to the chain of command at the County Ground.

“Luke picks the team now. When Tim came in, he came in to do due diligence on the club. He looked at the players, he went on the training pitch because I asked him to with Luke, to reassess the squad, to look at what we needed for the upcoming transfer window.

“There might have been one or two decisions that needed to be made. Tim took that upon himself and Luke was aware of that and happy with that until we got the squad in place and the players in place and then it was always the intention to hand it over to Luke and hopefully now Luke has got enough there to keep us up.

“The players knew 100 per cent who was in charge. We sat down with the group and explained the situation.

“The players were aware of the situation and that Tim was coming in to have a look at a number of things at the football club and was there to help Luke.

“They’re obviously very aware now that in the last couple of weeks, Tim hasn’t been on the training ground, that Luke’s got a squad there now and he very clearly makes the team decisions.’’

Asked whether he felt Williams was up to the job, he added: “Maybe. Time will tell.

“He had a five-year deal as a coach two years ago and that’s rolled into his managerial position. It’s something that we wanted to give longevity to the football club, give it some stability.

“There had been a lot of chopping and changing hence why we tried to steady the ship. Results haven’t gone that way and ultimately the one person to blame is me.

“I’m the one that recruited the players and appointed the manager and the director of football and the coaching staff. It’s very clear to me where the blame lies.

“Everything will stay as it is.

“In the summer, our recruitment hasn’t been good enough. That became very apparent in November hence why I asked Tim to come and have a look at us.

“I needed to not make those mistakes again and I asked Tim for help to help purge some players and bring players in on loan that will help keep us up.

“No one has spent the money that we have spent in League One in the window in terms of wages to keep us in the league.

“I think that Luke’s now got the tools - there are no excuses now - for this side to stay in this league, whereas before I think I might have sold them a bit short with the players who were given to him.’’

Power also reiterated his appeal for unity as the club battles to beat the drop.

“Sometimes you need to look at the players as well, they need to do their bit and the supporters as well,’’ he added.

“Everyone needs to pull together. It’s their club, they need to come out and support the team as much as they can and hopefully we can get out of this position.’’