Swindon Town must not 'get left behind' after slow start

After eight league games, Town have only been able to win once and find themselves in 21st place and seven points off the playoff places.

Kennedy said that he believed this team was capable of competing in the top half and now had a run of games to try and prove it.

He said: “I would never disrespect any team in the league by saying that this game is easier than that game but I think that the next block of games is a fantastic opportunity for us.

“I felt that the first eight games were ‘Jesus Christ what have we done to deserve this, talk about a hard start’ but I really felt in every game bar Walsall that there was nothing in it.

“We don’t want to fall too far behind because we feel that we have got a top ten squad and a top ten team.

“What we don’t want to do is give ourselves a mountain to climb and we have now got through a block of teams that I am glad to see the back of.

“It is a block of games where we need to pick points up, not to disrespect the opposition as nobody is Real Madrid in this league, you have to be on your game every week.”

First up in that pursuit will be the trip to Prenton Park to face Tranmere Rovers, who have struggled to find the net so far, scoring in just two of their games.

Kennedy said of the opposition: “They are [in a difficult place] and there are two ways of looking at it. 

"At some point, they are going to score goals - when you are winning lots of games, at some point, you are going to get beaten and when you aren’t winning games at some point you will win. That is a fact of life.

“I tend to focus on ourselves and although we have conceded goals this year, one thing I am really pleased about is lots of parameters we look at defensively are very good.

“Our gripe at the minute is we are handing teams goals and if we continue to do that we will be in a whole world of hurt whoever you play. You can’t afford to give people a headstart in a game.”