SWINDON Town should reflect on a solid first half of the season considering the mighty rebuilding job conducted by manager David Flitcroft before the campaign began, according to former striker Steve White.

Following their relegation from League One at the end of last season, Town’s ambition has always been to bounce back at the first attempt.

However, Flitcroft first had to lead a huge overhaul of the squad upon his appointment as the club’s new manager back in June, with 17 new players having since arrived at the Energy Check County Ground.

White, who now works as a summariser for BBC Wiltshire, was well aware it would take time for the new-look side to gel and after some mixed early results, believes Swindon are well set to kick on following the turn of the year as they currently sit just two points outside the play-off places.

“The major difficultly that David Flitcroft has had this season is reforming a team and getting a squad of players together in the summer, with so many players leaving after their contracts expired and wanting to go because the club was relegated,” said White, who played more than 300 times for the club in the 1980s and early 1990s.

“To bring 17 players into a club is a massive overhaul and people forget these players have to integrate into the team and they have to bring their families down and relocate.

“It is not so easy off the pitch for everyone to get settled and able to give a high level of performance in every game.

“It is quite a culture shock to deal with a different standard of football in League Two but all these players have come together and there is a lot of talent there.

“If they can get one or two more players in during this transfer window, I think it is very possible the team can push to be in that top seven and even target the third place.

“It is looking more positive now.”

A major issue for Town this season has been their home form, with the team collecting just 14 points from 13 league games in front of their own supporters.

However, a 1-0 home win over Notts County in the final game of 2017 has given hope that the tide is starting to turn.

“The team had a fantastic start to the season, which raised everybody’s spirits, but it is no secret that the home form has been a problem,” said White, nicknamed Chalky.

“David Flitcroft has stated many times, he has been very honest about it, that he is not 100 per cent sure what the key to the matter is but is working hard to get that right.

“If the home form had been what the away form is and vice-versa, people wouldn’t have been so disenchanted, but I am sure he would have settled for nine points out 12 over the Christmas period as it was a great haul.

“What David is going to do now is get the key to this problem we have of winning home games.

“We beat Notts County, which is a feather in his cap, and to then get the win at Barnet afterwards has lifted everyone’s spirits going into the new year.”

In an effort to rectify that disappointing home record, Flitcroft has switched to a 3-5-2 formation in recent matches and it paid dividends against County.

Although White thinks a more robust Town side bodes well, he is also keen to see the team’s attacking talent flourish.

“The manager has brought Chris Robertson in to go three at the back and what that does is give you another berth in midfield and it also allows you to have two forward players,” said White.

“In Kaiyne Woolery, Luke Norris and Keshi Anderson, who I think has been outstanding for the majority of the season, we have an abundance of talent in those forward areas.

“From my perspective, I think it is very important to play with two forward players at all times, home and away.

“It is fashionable now to play 4-5-1 or even 5-4-1 and play counter-attack football but with the quality we have got, I think we definitely need to have two forward players.”