Charlie Austin says Swindon Town have been fighting for promotion despite a difficult time this season.
With 21 games played, Town are one point and two places outside the League Two play-offs ahead of the long holiday period where they will face the two teams currently occupying the automatic promotion places.
After a tough night against AFC Wimbledon, a philosophical Austin said Swindon had put themselves in a strong position despite a difficult first half of the season.
He said: “We really gave ourselves a good chance to [make the jump]. Could it be better? YES."
“But we have the right mix, we are not in the play-offs but we are close to achieving the goal.
“Today's result is just an intermediate stage and we have to see it that way because in the last few games we have returned to where we were at the start of the season.”
“We just had to close the door today, we have a lot of games ahead of us and I know the fans don't want to hear that because they came in big numbers, they were fantastic and we started this nonsense. .
“We have games against teams around us and we have to win and in the end we have to perform better than today.”
“We're off to a good start, so imagine what you think is going well.”
“But second division football is difficult and you have to fight.”
Austin believes that despite disappointing performances against Wimbledon in recent weeks, Swindon have shown enough promise to remain optimistic going into such a tough match.
He said: "There's not much to say today other than what we didn't do, not what we did in the last three games."
“In the last three games we have been very close as a team and as a unit.
“Today, if you have a small gap in that department, you will be punished when you play against good teams.”
“In the last three games we have taken seven points out of a possible nine and have turned around our poor form, so we have to close this [Wimbledon match] now.”
