Gavin Gunning said that Swindon Town’s Deadline Day business will be a huge boost in trying to change games from the bench.

Swindon ended up bringing in three new players on the last day of the window, all of them attacking options, and leaving Gunning with a 27-player squad.

The head coach said that he was very excited to be able to change games whilst they were underway with the new players that had been brought in and the start that had been made.

He said: “I think because we went so slack and for 15 minutes we reverted to bad habits but then we clicked back out of that and got back on top again.

“Then Zack [Elbouzedi] comes alive, the other lads that came on were a threat and we started carving them up again and getting back into good habits again.

“We have had two good performances, one good result and one poor result, but if we can keep playing that way then we will get the results.

“But we can’t go back in and revert to what we have been doing, the bad habits, dropping off, and not squeezing the pitch.

“Maybe that is my fault, maybe we need to get better, fitter, and mentally stronger.”

Gunning was full of enthusiasm for all of his new signings and what they had displayed during their performances off the bench against Newport County.

He said: “He [Harry McKirdy] is a maverick, and I am a big character as well so it will be fine.

“I am sure that he will like the other lads, he has a fantastic attitude, he’s a maverick and we don’t mind that we want him to be free and express himself and all of those things.

“He was unbelievable the last time he was at Swindon, so I don’t see why it would be any different.

“He went to Hibs and whatever happened with the manager there, it is unfortunate, but it’s going to be fine here, I think he will do really well again.

“[Sean] McGurk has fantastic ability, you could see it in the little pockets, he just manipulates the ball, creates space, body shape, and for a small guy, he rolls people really well.

“[Aaron] Drinan is just big, strong, powerful, and he has scored goals at this level, hopefully, we need a bit more of that but he was decent when he came on.”