Ian Holloway was keen to stress that Swindon Town have not achieved anything yet despite having progressed in two cup competitions in his first two games.

Having taken charge of two matches in the space of four days, Holloway has had a strong start to life in Wiltshire, knocking Colchester United out of the FA Cup after extra time and then making it into Bristol Street Motors Trophy knockout phase with another 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s.

The league action begins for the new manager this Saturday as Swindon travel to face Milton Keynes Dons and their former boss Scott Lindsey.

Holloway said that although he was happy with his start, he knows that it is the league results which truly count.

He said: “It is pleasing all around tonight but I am going to have a massive headache this week as I don’t like saying ‘You’re not playing’ but I am going to have to to some.

“I am going to have to put some on the bench and some I will have to leave off when they don’t deserve to be – hopefully, they trust me and will keep working and I will run the hell out of them in the background so they are ready to come in.

“We looked tired after a while of chasing and we looked like we had all sorts of life left in us when we won it back and we played. That is what football is all about.

“I am very pleased, but I am no fool. I know this is nothing. I know it could start raining again on Saturday and I might need an umbrella.

“We are not out of the woods yet, not in any way, shape, or form.

“What we have been doing before has led us to where we are, so can we do what we are doing now to try and get us out of where we are in the league? Because that is all that matters.”

Holloway added that he was particularly pleased with how his team performed against Spurs because he would need contributions from his whole squad to succeed.

He said: “They have shown resilience and character tonight and it is really important that the whole team does that.

“I am going to need everybody that we have got, they are all needed and it is really important that they are nurtured, loved, and cherished.

“I haven’t got time to waste and I have got some big decisions to make to move us.

“With my experience, I will do that and I will not upset them [the players] as I will tell them what I think and why I did it and they are going to have to accept it because we need to win.

“We are not in a position to dance around it, we need to win and we need to get some points to start climbing up this league.

“That is my huge challenge: to make them believe they can do it.”