Reappointed Swindon Town Women manager Richard Wood said that he had a plan for promotion after returning to the role.

It was announced last week that Wood had been re-appointed as manager of Swindon Women after he left the club in April following winning the Wiltshire County Cup at the County Ground.

Swindon finished fourth last season in FA Women’s National League Division One South West and Wood said he had returned in search of promotion.

Speaking to club media, he said: “I think we need to be careful about running before we can walk, I think that the league is really competitive and difficult and there are teams who are a little bit ahead of us in their development process.

“I look at it as a two-year project to get promoted, but if we can out-perform then we can look to kick on and the players’ and my target will be that.

"I think that we can compete for promotion, but also we need to be realistic that it takes time to put those things in place because in the women’s game, you have to be nearly perfect.

“Bournemouth have not lost last year and have not been promoted, so we have our aims but there are also things we need to put in place.”

Wood said that he was excited to have been given the support from people at the club to be able to return as manager after previously leaving the role.

He said: “I feel grateful, really, grateful to be back and for the opportunity and I am really excited for next season.

“In the circumstances of it having stepped away, you are not always going to get the chance.

“It would be quite hard to do that [put into words what the club means] succinctly, anyone who knows the club knows it has a way of wiggling its way into your heart.

“Not just the club, but the people at the club, there are loads of good people here and I think particularly within the women’s game the big thing that you get out of it are the experiences you can have and the people you can meet.

“In my opinion, Swindon are doing a fantastic job of looking to develop their women’s set-up and to have the club behind us and the support that I have had from the club, the owner, Jamie [Russell], and Mandie [Coe] means a lot.”