Mark Kennedy said that whilst he understands the fans’ frustration with Swindon Town’s season so far, the atmosphere is not helping them turn it around.

There were boos from around The Nigel Eady County Ground at the end after Swindon’s 0-0 with Harrogate Town on Saturday after the fans were left disappointed with the team’s display and overall start to the campaign.

Kennedy said after the game that whilst he accepts the criticism, in a sport of fine margins, he did not feel it would help the team to improve.

He said: “I think that we have inherited a substantial period of hurt at the club and when you are not winning games then it is easy for that to grow, and I understand that.

“The irony of it is that Harrogate get clapped off and we get booed off, but we both get a point.

“Shrewsbury go to Bolton and get a 2-2 draw, it looks exceptional but Bolton fans will be going mad when you both get a point.

“You start with a point and the minimum you need to finish with is a point but ultimately we do need to turn draws into wins, we need some more Ws on the board by hook or by crook.

“I absolutely totally get [the reaction] but I really feel for the younger players, it is a very difficult environment to play in those situations when you are so young and you have not experienced that – that is certainly not going to help those guys, that is not a criticism of it, it is the reality of it.

“I thought Tunmise [Sobowale] was outstanding today but he is struggling through the game and we have to make a decision to take him off, you get the fan frustration, but we need Tunmise to be ok and also playing Ros[aire Longelo] as a right wing-back he won’t have to beat his man.

“If [George] Cox scores the header and wins the game then the fine line between looking foolish and genius is quite small.”

The atmosphere was subdued throughout the match with the lowest attendance of the season, although Kennedy did not feel that had played much of a part.

He said: “There was a fairly quiet feel and we have got a big stadium that is not full.

“I can’t imagine there were many away fans today, whereas when Notts County turn up and when Walsall came here, they can gee each other up.

“Absolutely at no point during the game was I feeling that the atmosphere was too flat.

“We speak a lot about what the first 15 minutes look like, whether there is 40,000 at the game or 4,000, you have to generate the buzz, you have to create something with your first pass, tackle, movement, header.

“You have to set the tone and tempo for the ground to be energised and I actually thought we started the game quite well.

“I didn’t feel that affected anything in today’s game.”