Gunning labelled as 'perfect' for Swindon Town at present

Swindon Town striker Charlie Austin labelled interim head coach Gavin Gunning as “the perfect man for the football club at this moment”.

Dubliner Gunning once again took charge at the County Ground after Michael Flynn was sacked back in January.

He has since presided over two victories, four draws and two defeats during his time at the helm.

And experienced frontman Austin, who netted a leveller in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Harrogate, insisted Gunning’s familiarity with the football club was key at present.

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.”

Town are currently 17th in League Two, with 44 points from 36 games played. They visit top of the table Mansfield on Saturday. 

Austin added: “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.”

(Picture: Rob Noyes)