Gavin Gunning said that he is looking to put things in place to break the cycle of hovering around the lower reaches of League Two at Swindon Town.

This season has been a disappointing one at the County Ground, having won just five times in 23 league matches after going undefeated in their opening nine of the season, and are currently on course for the club’s lowest-ever league finish.

However, Gunning said that he is hoping that through a focus on his side’s performance levels, he can help to create a structure that can bring success in the long term.

He said: “I think the performances have been key, you can go on about results and that is fine, but the reality is that if you don’t perform well then you are just going to stagnate in League Two.

“If you don’t have a structure to you then you are just going to float around doing the same old thing all the time.

“Whereas, if you actually try to get somewhere then you might be able to actually do something in the league.

“We are where we are and that is unfortunate, it has not been a great season and where you finish in the league is where your performances have put you.

“It won’t [the season won’t stagnate], I believe it won’t. We will start getting very positive results soon, I envisage and I am looking forward to that.”

Town take on Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday night in their second of three games in the space of eight days in a tussle between two sides for whom a promotion tilt and relegation scrap looks equally unlikely.

Gunning admitted that he would once again need to rotate his side for the match, with many players still being managed back to full fitness.

He said: “If we have got three games in eight days and we just had three games in eight days then I imagine it will be a few [being rotated].

“We are trying to get lads minutage still, so hopefully we can stop the minutes malarkey next Saturday so hopefully everybody will be up to scratch by next Saturday.

“[Udoka Godwin-Malife] is just stiff, I don’t think he had a pre-season and he has played nearly all the games and nearly all the minutes.

“He has not been involved today so hopefully he will be back in on Tuesday, we will see.”