THE SEVEN points separating Swindon Town from current automatic promotion candidates Newport County in third is of little concern to manager Phil Brown ahead of this afternoon’s trip south to face in-form Exeter City.

A convincing three-goal win against Yeovil Town three weeks ago was followed up by lacklustre performances against Oldham Athletic and Crewe Alexandra before a forward-thinking display in the final 30 minutes against Northampton last weekend rescued a point.

League points dropped in those four games equate to the gap established by both Newport and Exeter.

However, Brown insists there is no reason for Town’s inconsistent form to prompt panic - instead all focussed must be channelled towards ending Exeter’s seven-game unbeaten run.

“I’m not conscious of the gap between ourselves and the top three getting bigger,” said Brown.

“I’m conscious of who we play against, I always give them the respect that they deserve. Exeter are towards the top end of the table because they’ve been consistent.

“If you can get your same team out on a regular basis, where the manager is happy with their first 11, then you can play at a high-level week in and week out.

“Being able to select the same 11 gets you wins and it gets you clean sheets in tight games.

“I’ve not been able to do that, but I will admit - given the injuries we’ve had – that I don’t know my strongest 11 at this moment.

“But that will certainly happen when we get our teeth into this division, which I don’t firmly believe we’ve done yet.”

Town’s turbulent league form was cast aside on Tuesday night when a largely fresh-faced starting 11 put three goals past Kyle Letheren against Plymouth Argyle in the Checkatrade Trophy on Tuesday night, keeping hopes of qualification to the knockout stage alive.

Marc Richards answered his critics with a first-half header before Keshi Anderson doubled Town’s lead before half time.

Returning Kaiyne Woolery – who made his first start of the season after suffering with a knee injury over the summer – also found the back of the net, causing Brown a selection headache ahead of this afternoon’s trip.

The performance in Devon left Brown himself questioning why consistency this season has been so far hard to find.

With changes nigh – and the chance of leading goalscorer Michael Doughty returning to the team sheet – Brown is hopeful he can get the big decisions right.

Brown said: “The work rate of the front three (against Plymouth) was a key to the team doing well.

“Why doesn’t that happen every week? It might be down to personal or down to the fact that Scott Twine sparked it.

“Scott should’ve been on the scoresheet – a header in the first half, the shot that lead to the second goal and he had two chances at the near post in the second half.

“That’s one decision I’ve got to make, do I stick with the youthful exuberance of Scott or do I bring in Elijah (Adebayo) who has experience. .

“It’s normally the last (team selection) decision that can win you the game. But I’m looking at my last three – that’s what I’m looking for.”