SWINDON Town have provided an update on the situation surrounding the assistant coach role at the club.

Following the departure of Scott Lindsey to Crawley Town earlier this year, former Chelsea player Jody Morris was appointed as head coach of the League Two outfit.

Morris has endured a rocky start to life at the County Ground, picking up his first points at the fourth attempt courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Salford City on Saturday.

Although not directly to blame, an unhelpful factor preventing Morris from getting the best out of his squad is the lack of assistant coach on matchday.

Fellow ex-Chelsea man Ed Brand was chosen by the new boss to join him in Wiltshire, but unforeseen issues have delayed the reunion.

Town have now provided fans with an update as to what is causing the delays, adding some clarity to the management situation.

A statement from the club said: “Swindon Town Football Club would like to take this opportunity to provide fans and the media with an update surrounding delays in the appointment of our assistant head coach, Ed Brand.

“It’s been well documented over the past few weeks that since first-team head coach Jody Morris took over, his chosen number two has been unable to fulfil his role at the club thus far.

“Following Jody’s arrival at the County Ground, a secondment between Premier League side Chelsea, where Ed has been an academy coach since 2008, and Swindon Town, was agreed by both clubs.

“Given the arrangement between ourselves and Chelsea, there is a detailed application process we must go through to comply with all contractual and legal regulations, which then requires sign off by the appropriate football associations and governing bodies.

“In order to bring Ed into the football club at the earliest opportunity, we submitted these documents alongside Chelsea to the FA, Premier League and the EFL, but the approval process has taken longer than anticipated.

“As a football club, we recognise the importance of completing all the necessary due diligence and ensuring this particular agreement meets all relevant protocols.

“We will continue working with the FA and EFL in the hope we receive final written approval from both respective FA and EFL boards in due course.”

As of Monday, there had been no further update on Brand's future.