Byrne was placed in charge at the County Ground in November

Swindon Town caretaker manager David Byrne has said the Robins are in a relegation battle after Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Crewe.

Shaun Miller's goal was enough to give Crewe all three points and extend Swindon's winless run to nine games.

Byrne told BBC Swindon: "The performance was poor, we were beaten by the better team.

"You've only got to look at the table. Anyone who thinks we're not in a relegation battle needs to get real."

Swindon's misery was compounded by the dismissal of Billy Paynter, who saw red for a headbutt on Crewe midfielder Michael O'Connor.

"There's no excuse for what Billy did and that didn't help, but his sending off didn't lose us the game," said Byrne.

"With 10 men we kept the ball and passed it really well but we couldn't do it with 11.

"That's the first time I can say we didn't deserve anything from the game, the bottom club in the division were the better side," he added.

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