SWINDON Town have plenty of work to do and are behind schedule in their quest to earn promotion from League Two, admits manager Phil Brown.

Town are without a win in their last three league outings having been held to home draws against Oldham and Northampton with an away defeat by Crewe Alexandra sandwiched between.

Three games without a win have dropped Town to 13th in the division, three points short of seventh-placed Tranmere Rovers and seven points shy of Newport County – who occupy the final automatic promotion spot.

With a quarter of the season complete, Brown admits his side are already playing catch-up – something he wants to quickly eradicate when travelling to high-flying Exeter City this coming weekend.

He said: “We’ve got plenty of work to do.

“Is it a point gained? No. When you’re at home you need to win, and maybe pick up a point on your travels.

“I didn’t plan to be middle of the table, I planned to be top seven.

“We’re behind schedule, and we need to do something in the second quarter of the season to change that.”

A trademark Matt Taylor free kick from 25 yards out with less than 20 minutes of the game remaining saved Swindon from a second defeat on the spin.

Taylor – who wasn’t enjoying the best of games prior to his faultless second-half strike – neatly placed his left-footed effort beyond David Cornell’s reach, sparking scenes of relief at the County Ground.

While Brown accepted Town must not bank on Taylor’s habit of striking from range, the Town boss heaped praise on his standout left-back.

“I was missing him in the first 10 games when he wasn’t on the scoresheet,” said Brown.

“Though he did score at Crawley when the ball crossed the line and I’ve proved that to the referees' association, we’re not going to get the points from that game now.

“Matt’s game is something to admire. It’s nice to see him on the score sheet, but he’s disappointed not to be on the winning team.”

Meanwhile all-action Sid Nelson missed Saturday’s encounter after picking up a slight hip injury in training on Thursday.

Brown is hopeful the Millwall loanee will return to the team on Saturday at Exeter, adding he won’t feature in tomorrow night’s Checkatrade Trophy tie at Plymouth unless he’s 100 per cent fit.

Brown said: “Sid (Nelson) pulled up in training on Thursday, he tightened his hip.

“He couldn’t kick the ball. By Friday he wasn’t available.

“I won’t risk him on Tuesday if he’s not 100 per cent, he should be – fingers crossed – okay for next Saturday.”