Gavin Gunning laid down the gauntlet to the current members of the Swindon Town squad to prove that they should still be part of the squad once next season arrives.

Swindon presently have 20 players in their 27-man squad who are not guaranteed to be back next season and decisions will need to be made about who returns next term in the next two months.

With eight games remaining in the season, Gunning said that all of those players will need to demonstrate their value and earn their spot for next season.

He said: “The realism is that if you do not perform and you are out of contract, you are 18th in League Two for a reason and the performances haven’t been good enough.

“It is up to them and if they don’t perform in the next eight games then I wouldn’t imagine that the club would be desperate to extend their deals.

“That is the realism of the situation, where you are in the table and your performances are what is going to earn you a new deal.

“That goes for Flynny [Michael Flynn] before and now, we haven’t picked up enough points and that is where we are at.”

Gunning added that he felt that demonstrating their commitment and work rate for the team would be key in that process.

The interim head coach has questioned the players’ attitude and desire to do the right things about both the Mansfield Town and Accrington Stanley defeats.

He said: “You have got to be positive, there are some fantastic players in there for the level and that is the thing.

“They have got to believe in themselves, and they have also got to be willing to work hard.

“There is no point in being a great player for the level and not actually performing, because otherwise, you are just wasting your own time as well.

“That was a one-off tonight, I think that the effort has been there in the other games, but tonight we just let ourselves down massively.

“Tonight, I felt like some people thought they were on the beach or they were feeling sorry for themselves.

“Those people have to come out of the team because there has to be intensity if you are going to play at home, you cannot see a performance like that again, it was just flat and we were rubbish tonight.”