SWINDON Town head coach Luke Williams says his side have given him hope that they have what it takes to avoid relegation this season following their performance against Oldham Athletic on Saturday.

Despite being held to a goalless draw and still being four points off safety in League One, Town’s dominance at the County Ground, particularly in the first half, has renewed Williams' optimism.

Saturday's draw ended a run of five straight defeats and while wins are required to get Swindon out of the predicament they find themselves in, the Town chief is optimistic that his side, now under his sole guidance, are close to turning things around.

“It’s pressure,” said Williams on the dwindling number of matches left this season.

“Games are running out and we need to string some results together, otherwise we’re going into the last few in a win-every-game situation, which is too much pressure to put ourselves under.

“We need to try and chip away as quickly as we possibly can with victories. To perform well and create a lot of chances is almost as frustrating as not performing.

“At least if you perform terribly, you think: ‘well, we had no chance to win and that’s why we lost’. To pepper the goal with opportunities and not win is almost like insult to injury.

“You feel like: 'what’s next? What do we have to do? Create 100 chances?'.

“That gives us hope. If I was a player in the changing room on Saturday, I would think that I am looking forward to the next game because, if we can perform like that, it’s only a matter of time before the ball hits the back of the net.”

That next game comes in the form of a trip to bottom side Coventry City, who have closed the gap at the weekend with a 2-1 win over Gillingham, next Saturday.

Williams says his team have a fighting chance if they continue to create the number of chances they did against Oldham.

“If we are not creating any chances but we are leaking dozens, then I am really concerned and you really feel like there is a lot of work to do,” he added.

“I feel like that performance doesn’t leave us scratching our heads. We know the reality of what happened was that we created chances but we weren’t clinical enough and clean enough.

“After watching that, you have to (believe that we can avoid relegation).”