Gavin Gunning said that the “infectious” personality of Ian Holloway is going to help bring the excitement back to Swindon Town.

The new boss, who officially starts on Monday, was at the game on Saturday but could not contain himself in the director’s box and he started giving instructions from half of the seats in The Arkell’s Stand.

Gunning said after the game that Holloway displayed the character he had seen in their early interactions which should translate through to the fans.

He said: “Listen, he is infectious, he is a small physical presence but massive in terms of his heart, character, and what he represents as a person is really big.

“He has got a massive heart and a massive knowledge of the game and although I think it is disappointing to lose Mark [Kennedy], to bring someone like that in is a massive coup to get someone with such a wealth of experience and knowledge as Ian Holloway.

“I think that the young guys here are going to learn an awful lot and for myself, I am hoping that I will be really fortunate to have worked under him.

“The fans are going to love him, I know they are in an in-between stage where they are not very happy but he is going to drag them back and we are going to get big crowds again because the football is going to be good, off your seat stuff.”

Bycroft, who was on the pitch when Holloway’s enthusiastic instructions were going on, said it was great to get that passion from a new manager so quickly.

He said: “I saw it during the first half, to be honest, I think we just changed formation or something and [Miguel] Freckleton played a brilliant pass.

“I looked over and I heard someone, I didn’t know who it was at the time, just giving him a load of praise and I realised ‘That’s the gaffer!’ It was good to see.

“He had a brief chat with us before the game and quite a long chat with us after the game and it was good and I am sure he is going to grind passion and results out of us.

“Massive shoutout to Mark [Kennedy], we all wanted it to work out for him and he is a fantastic guy but he is a completely different character to Ian, who I am sure will get a lot of energy out of us.”