CHAIRMAN Lee Power admits he did not foresee Swindon Town struggling in the bottom half of League Two, five years after first taking full control of the club.

Power, who stated his intentions to promote Town back into the Championship upon taking sole charge at the Energy Check County Ground in December 2013, opted to part with his fifth manager during that spell this week when sacking Phil Brown – ending the 59-year-old’s nine-month reign at SN1.

The Town chairman acted quickly to hire former Oldham Athletic boss Richie Wellens, who Power admitted to speaking to in the summer amid uncertainty regarding Brown's contract extension following his initial failed initial 10-game spell.

After asking fans to judge his credentials as club owner “after five years and not five minutes”, Power said dealing with issues off the pitch have hindered his on-pitch ambitions.

He told BBC Wiltshire: “I didn’t foresee being here (in League Two, after five years).

“I obviously wanted to be in the Championship. Since the start of my reign, the football club has finished in its highest Football League position, when we made the League One play-off final.

“I’ve had a lot to deal with off the pitch. And on top of that, we’ve had to fight and keep a club afloat that was losing £5million per year.

“Any player sales that came out of this football club were players that I bought in. I bought the jewels and had to sell them to keep the club afloat, which as a chairman is very difficult.”

Wellens arrives at the County Ground with minimal managerial experience after taking charge at Oldham last season.

On a reported budget of £1.6million, Wellens valiantly took the Latics' survival hopes in League One to the final day of the season – but a 2-2 draw against Northampton Town ensured they dropped down to the lowest tier of the Football League.

With strong references, Power believes Wellens can prove himself as the right candidate to march Town up the divisions.

“I spoke to Richie in the summer when I was contemplating whether to renew Phil’s contract or to make a change then,” said Power.

“The difficulty at that time was I thought maybe the negativity would come through because Oldham got relegated last season.

“But if people cut through that relegation and look at his game to win ratio – what he did at Oldham was quite incredible.

“Everyone knew that he performed miracles to even keep them alive until the last day of the season.

“People weren’t getting paid, there were ownership struggles and they didn’t have a training ground.

“Paul Jewell, who I knew from my playing days, alerted me to Richie and some players that I knew at Oldham said they really liked him.

“That’s when he came on the radar. I felt it was only fair to give Phil a crack with his own players.

“Richie has always been in the back of my mind. He’s a very infectious character and wants to play football the right way.

“He’s chomping at the bit. It was like he’d won the lottery (when he got the job).

“The club needs that injection and lift.”