Gavin Gunning said that he was certain that Paul Glatzel would be a Swindon Town player next season despite expected external interest.

Fans were left miffed after comments the interim head coach had made about the 23-year-old after the game against Barrow, in which he said that he felt hanging onto Glatzel would be “tough” considering the high level he was playing at.

Glatzel joined Swindon in January from Liverpool, with Town taking over his contract with the Anfield club in lieu of being able to pay a transfer fee due to EFL-imposed transfer restrictions.

However, Gunning was keen to clear up that the club have the option to extend the forward’s contract for another season and he would be a Swindon player.

He said: “I knew you were going to ask me ‘Do they have a contract extension?’ Yes, we do. We have an option on Paul, so he will be here. He is here, 100 per cent he is here.

“In football, it does not matter what club you are at, whether you are at Chelsea, Man United, or whether you are us, everyone has a price and that is how football is.

“[Would it be a significant price?] 100 per cent. He has come in and he has shown that even in the league’s standings I think he is one of the better players.”

With Glatzel being one of nine January additions, many of whom had had minimal game time during the first part of the season and needed to be brought up to speed, there was an acclimatisation period following the closing of the window.

Gunning said that he is pleased to be to a point in the season when those players are showing their true quality and perform more regularly.

He said: “I have had to be patient as we had to wait ten games for them to be fully fit and now that they are fully fit they are showing it.

“You probably don’t know until after ten games what lads are about and now you can see it and you are starting to see who is good at what.

“What is Zac [Elbouzedi] good at? Getting wide and using his pace. [Aaron] Drinan? Stretching defences and scoring goals. Glatzel? All-around quality. Sean McGurk? Quality. Harry [McKirdy]? He is still getting there with his fitness, but he has still scored goals and he is creating chances.”