PHIL Brown revealed he has thrashed out ‘behind-the-scenes issues’ within his Swindon Town squad to ensure everyone is on the same page for their season run-in.

Brown is still less than a month into his tenure as Town boss, having been appointed as the club’s new manager on March 12 in the wake of David Flitcroft’s shock resignation to take the helm at League Two rivals Mansfield Town.

The former Hull City boss oversaw his first game at the Energy Check County Ground on Friday as Town came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Morecambe.

That was the third match of 10 that Brown has to guide Swindon into a play-off position come the end of the season, with the team currently three points shy of that objective.

Brown previously voiced his grievances at aspects of the Town performance in their last game at Exeter City, which ended in a 3-1 defeat, and stated that some candid discussions had been held prior to the Morecambe match.

“We have had a couple of issues behind the scenes and we had a real, open, frank conversation a couple of days ago that included everybody,” said Brown.

“When you come to these tight stages at the end of a season, you need everything out in the open, nothing can be held back.

“We had a no-holds barred conversation and everyone contributed, even young players like Joe Romanski. An 18-year-old had a forum and he spoke very well.

“You go from Joe to Ben Purkiss, the chairman of the PFA, so you have got a real spectrum of opinion.

“We put everything out on the table, and I am not saying the issues have been completely ironed out, but they have certainly been addressed.

“That clarity of message of information that is coming from me to the players and vice-versa is an open channel, and if we get that right, we get the energy in the team, we get the quality in the team, and we will win more games than we will not.”

Experienced defender Purkiss says Brown has been open and honest with the players since his arrival and believes that his principles are starting to integrate within the squad.

“He has come in and there have been a few issues that he has tackled head-on and tried to iron out,” said Brown.

“It is a process. We had a great result against Cambridge and he has said openly that he then saw the other side of us against Exeter.

“On Friday, he probably saw a bit of character and hopefully some of the ideas he is putting into us coming to fruition in terms of being more solid.”