SWINDON Town chairman Lee Power said he would be ‘very disappointed’ if the club was not challenging for promotion this season.

Power, who took full control of the club in 2013, has backed manager Richie Wellens to lead his team towards the League One play-offs or beyond, months after a truncated season resulted in the League Two title being presented to the County-Ground outfit.

Speaking on The Official EFL Podcast’s season preview, Power told presenter Mark Clemmit he expects to see his team fighting in the upper echelons of League One this season.

He said: “I’m not saying we’re going to do this and do that, but if we get a bit of luck with injuries and everything else, I’d be very disappointed if we weren’t in or around the play-offs come May.

“I do truly believe that with one or two more players and a bit of luck, because we do have quite a tight squad, that we can go close this year.”

By his own admissions, the Town chairman has not always made the right call in terms of the manager’s job, but Power wholeheartedly believes he has one of the best available at the helm now.

Together with director of football, Paul Jewell, the 48-year-old says the club has the managerial foundations to kick on and be successful.

Power said: “What I’m blessed with, I believe, is one of the best young managers outside of the Premier League.

“It was a bit hairy scary trying to keep hold of Richie through the summer and towards the end of the season.

“I got approached by a few clubs for his services, but Richie is very loyal, and you know people are going to come for someone like that because of the job he’s done here.

“We’re blessed to have someone like that, and he’s worked fantastically well with Paul Jewell – our director of football.

“With Paul’s experience in the Premier League and the EFL, the two of them have worked fantastically well together, along with all the other staff.

“If you’ve got that as a foundation, which we have, and they manage to wheel and deal and bring quality players in, there’s no reason why we can’t achieve something this year.”