Ian Holloway said that he was told the goals for Swindon Town remain to go and get promotion and have a cup run.

The former Blackpool boss takes charge of his first game this weekend as Town’s FA Cup campaign commences with a home tie against Colchester United.

Swindon came into the season targeting a strong season on the field, at the fan’s forum each of the members of staff said that the target was to gain promotion from League Two.

Holloway said that despite the club’s slow start to the season on the field, when talking to Clem Morfuni, the aspirations remain very high.

He said: “A game is a game and you want to win it and getting in a winning habit is not easy but it is a wonderful thing to do.

“The FA Cup is probably the competition that I love the most, I never won it and I never got anywhere near winning it apart from the quarter-final when we got beat at Manchester United when I was at QPR and Sir Alex Ferguson came in afterwards and said I played well, which meant the world to me but I said ‘Get out, you only said it because you won.’

“It is a wonderful competition and we need a cup run and Clem has already told me that he wants promotion and a cup run – I said ‘Alright, I’ll do all of that in seven months, that is no problem. No pressure.’

“If we can express ourselves in a positive way, even if it is not going that well then I believe the fans will be with them.

“They will always be with us because clubs have good times and bad times and I would love to give them some good times.”

Holloway added that whilst the goals were lofty when coming in with the club placed 22nd in League Two, there was plenty of time left in the season to accomplish it.

He said: “I want to see the players understanding the connections that they could have with each other and to try and add to what they have been taught up to now, if I try and change everything all in one then it is not going to work.

“It is about making everybody feel that it is ok to fail as long as you are failing in the right way.

“I have just talked about how many points we have to play for, which is 96, that is quite a lot of points.

“Whatever was happening before, I want to be judged by the end of my time here and if I can extend that then I would be delighted but I have to earn that.

“I am determined in this role to deliver to him [Morfuni] what he wants and I am sure that he wants that success.

“Sometimes it takes a long time and seven months isn’t a long time but hopefully it is enough for me to prove to him and the fans that I can do that on the pitch.”