Gavin Gunning said that this season has been a “reality check” for everyone at Swindon Town about the direction needed for the club.

Swindon endured a miserable season that proved to be their worst-ever in the fourth tier of English football, ending the campaign in 19th place in League Two with just 54 points.

Speaking after the final game of the season against Morecambe, Gunning said that he was certain that lessons had been learned from this year as it had been a real wake-up call for everyone involved.

He said: “Yes, 100 per cent [we have learned from this season. Clem [Morfuni] will 100 per cent back it, which he has done for the last couple of years.

“We have had a reality check this year I feel, and it is the realism of your recruitment needing to be spot on and you need to have everything in check and it needs to be there, and maybe they are the little improvements that we need to make.

“100 per cent [everyone is learning the lessons], if you are making the same mistakes that you were three or four months ago then you are not improving as a player or member of staff and that is where you have got to get to moving forward.”

As the interim head coach for just under half of the campaign, Gunning accepted that much of the criticism was going to fall on him and he said that he was included in those who were learning from what went wrong this term.

He said: “There is loads to improve on and loads to learn, every day is a learning day.

“I have been learning how to deal with players and different styles of players, but I have enjoyed it.

“Obviously in the last three games we have tried to blood the younger players, which hasn’t been fantastic for results, but going forward I think that when you have got a youth team that has been to the quarterfinals of the FA Youth Cup, you have got to pay them some respect and blood some of those young lads.

“It’s not great [picking up 20 points in his 18 games in charge], but I think that sums up our season and where we are at.

“[I feel] 100 per cent [responsibility for that], because it is my name that is on it as I am the head coach.”