Gavin Gunning revealed that a friend in the plastering business has been helping him improve as a leader since he became head coach at Swindon Town.

Despite being just 33 years old, Gunning will be Town’s head coach until the end of the season, with this being his first extended period in charge of a team, working alongside a staff that lacks an experienced coach.

Previous first-time Swindon head coach Scott Lindsey revealed that he had former Arsenal and Charlton Athletic coach Carl Laraman giving him guidance on his new role, and Gunning was asked whether he had any similar mentor whom he could go to for advice about his new role.

The former Forest Green Rovers defender said that he did not have conversations with a more senior coach, but rather with a business-owning friend.

He said: “My mate owns a multi-million-pound plastering company, so I ask him how he deals with his staff.

“[He gives me perspective on] managing people. I think that football is massively about managing people.

“You can overthink it, but how you deal with the human parts of it is massive.

“I think that people shy away from that and think too much about ‘oh, he has been s***’, why though? Why has he not been playing well?

“That is what you have got to think about, he has not turned into a rubbish player overnight, what is the problem? Has his missus left him? Is he struggling financially? Is something else going on? That is the realism of it.

“[It is trying to be holistic], but that is just life, though. If you are not [trying to be holistic], you just end up making excuses and you fall on your arse.”

Gunning added that he did not think that speaking with a more experienced coach was necessary as the ideas of what needs to be done on the pitch have to come from him.

He said: “Coaching-wise, not really. I just watch a lot of football and learn on the job, basically.

“Watching a lot of football, seeing a lot of stuff, and watching a lot of sessions, because it has to be your idea at the end of the day.

“You can be good at stealing stuff off other coaches, that is what the best coaches do, they are the best thieves, but you have to implement it, as well.”