SWINDON Town manager Richie Wellens says he wants to change the football team into a football club next season and make it a place where there is a real connection between fans and players.

Following the home drubbing Town received against Carlisle in Wellens’ first game in charge, the club’s fortunes slowly and steadily turned around as the season progressed before an end-of-season capitulation that featured a six-game winless run ended up undoing much of the 39-year-old’s hard work on the pitch.

And while rectifying that faulty promotion push will be at the very top of Wellens’ to-do list next season, the manager is also keen on fostering a togetherness throughout the Town, so positivity and encouragement become second nature to all involved.

Wellens discussed sending his players out to coach at local teams next season as a way of engaging with prospective fans and building future crowd numbers at home.

He said: “I want to change the feeling around this club. At the moment, this club is just a football team, it’s not a football club.

“We’re going to do loads of work in the community next year, in terms of going out to coach local young football teams and things like that.

“I want there to be a connection between the players and the supporters and I don’t think we’ve got that right now.”

But before next season gets underway, Matt Taylor will feature in his last game as a professional when Town take on Notts County at SN1.

Wellens made no guarantees that Taylor will play an active role in tomorrow’s must-win game for County, and stated he will be picking the strongest team available to him on the day.

Wellens said: “I played him (Taylor) away at Cheltenham and, as a back four, we were very poor and conceded three goals, which I obviously don’t want to do again.

“Of the players we’ve got available, I’ll be picking the strongest team.

“If we would have finished the last few games in a more positive manner, then I’ve got room for a little bit of sentiment, but my main aim (on Saturday) is no side shows.

“It’s trying to get a result and a positive performance so we can go into the summer with people believing.

“I want to come back for the first day of pre-season with the players and my coaching staff believing that we can get promotion next year.”