Charlie Austin has backed interim head coach Gavin Gunning to be given the role at Swindon Town on a full-time basis for next season.

Gunning was placed in charge of the team on an interim basis until the end of the season following the departure of Michael Flynn in the middle of January.

The 33-year-old has two wins in his seven games since taking over, with Swindon sat in 17th place in League Two, and were they to end the season in that position then that would equal the club’s record-lowest finish in the Football League.

But Austin has given his support to Gunning to take the job beyond the current campaign, believing that a level of consistency at all levels of the club was required for things to progress.

He said: “For me, I am here for the season, but Gav is the perfect man for the football club at this moment.

“As you look at it, he knows the football club, he knows the players here, and he knows the surroundings.

“Who else are we going to bring in? It becomes all new all over again and the football club doesn’t need that, they need consistency in what they want to do.

“I think that is on and off the pitch, over time the consistency at the football club with the turnover of players and the manager hasn’t been good enough. Why? I don’t know.

“However, the expectation is that we want to get promoted, that is everyone’s goal at the start of the season, when I came here I wanted to get promoted.

“But you need to have a bit of realism, you can’t keep saying that Swindon are not a League Two club, look at the facts, they are. We need to concentrate on where we are and that is it.”

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy also gave his support to Gunning as he believes that he has a strong relationship with all members of the squad.

He said: “I think that Gav is good with all the lads, he has been in and around the training ground and the stadium even when he wasn’t gaffer, so everybody knows Gav and Gav knows everybody in the changing room.

“In my opinion, I think everyone likes him, but that is really out of our control if he stays as manager for next season, but we will wait and see.”