Gavin Gunning said that his time away from the Swindon Town first team has helped him to develop as a coach.

The 32-year-old was a first-team coach last season under Scott Lindsey and Jody Morris and had three games in interim charge, before becoming the professional phase loan manager after the arrival of Michael Flynn.

Gunning said that the time he has spent working in other areas of the club has helped him to learn and grow to become ready for taking over this time around.

He said: “I think it has been better for me to see how the club is run to see if I can do what needs to be done.

“I will be working closely with Jamie Russell; he’s my boss and I will answer to him.

“Having that few months away from it has probably been good for me in the long run, to be honest.

“Last time I was always sceptical about how far it could go with the scenario that unfolded; I did ok in a short space of time, but I am not quite sure it was ever feasible for me to take over then.

“That was a great opportunity no matter what way you look at it and I grasped it then and I will look to grasp it now.”

Gunning said that he is coming into the side with a view on why things had gone wrong this season and the belief that he can change that around.

He said: “There are some good players in this squad, but it is always tough [to lift confidence].

“It is about getting to the bottom of why results have been so poor, I have some kind of idea that I will keep to myself and hopefully we can rectify that.

“The results obviously haven’t been good enough; we have won about four games in 25 and that is not good enough for the calibre of players we have got here.

“We have got to turn that around and we have got a few additions in and that will add to us going forward.

“I am confident in getting clear messages across to the players, it is a short space of time that we have had, but it is one that I have enjoyed.

“I think the lads have bought in early on and hopefully we can be positive and clear, and simplify messages to the players.”