SWINDON Town boss Phil Brown believes midfielder Matt Taylor has an ‘infectious’ attitude on his team.

Brown guided Town to their first win under his reign on Saturday as Luke Norris and Marc Richards struck against Cambridge United to provide the County Ground men with a timely boost ahead of this weekend’s trip to Exeter.

While Taylor - who took temporary charge of Swindon while the search for David Flitcroft’s replacement took place - is now primarily a squad member, Brown said the experienced 36-year-old is yet to make a full-time move back to his playing role.

It’s something Brown himself is familiar with having helped Sam Allardyce in his managerial role during the 1994/95 season at Blackpool while still a player himself.

Brown said: “I wouldn’t say Matt (Taylor) is back on the ‘other side’ of the fence.

“He’s still playing and still has the enthusiasm to get selected because he’s still in the selection process.

“It would’ve been easy for Matt to stand on the touchline but he’s such a good character and it’s infectious to the lads.

“Matt has one foot in each camp. He’s an honest guy.”

One element of Town’s game that impressed Brown on Saturday was his side’s dedication to closing down their opposition.

Brown added he wants his players to ‘buy into’ this philosophy with only nine league fixtures left this season.

He said: “Hard work is something I’ve always advocated - the license to go and close somebody down.

“But if one goes, we all have to go. And they did on Saturday.

“There’s nothing specific I’d like to improve at the moment, but we do want to keep our clean sheet mentality.

“I’ve joined this club in an unusual situation. There’s no need to sweep clean, this club’s been in the top half all season.

“We’ve got to get the team back into the top seven, that’s the job in hand. I want to players to buy into that over the next 10 games, that’s what I’m after.”

Meanwhile, it is expected midfielder Ellis Iandolo will be out for two weeks after tweaking his hamstring. Brown also confirmed goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook was missing on Saturday due to an ongoing wrist injury.

Charles-Cook’s absence has opened the door for reserve keeper Stuart Moore to impress between the posts, and Brown was more than pleased with what he saw.

He said: “After the kicking in the first half he was putting himself under a lot of pressure, he was trying too hard.

“Then he had to defend his goal in front of two or three thousand Cambridge fans, he stood up to the test. I’m delighted for him.”