With talks over a new contract about to start, Jack Smith looked to have finally won a sceptical Maurice Malpas over – but the manager's departure last week means the Swindon Town defender will now have to do it all again.

Smith was on the verge of being off-loaded before the end of the last campaign, before the departure of highly-rated full-back Miguel Comminges to Cardiff brought about a lifeline.

An early-season renaissance eventually persuaded Malpas that Smith could have something to offer and the manager went as far as to label the consistent defender "our best player" when asked a few weeks ago.

That rapid rise from being out-of-favour to firmly en vogue led Malpas to consider preliminary discussions over a new contract to keep Smith beyond next summer.

Those talks, however, were shelved when Malpas was relieved of his duties after agreeing to leave by mutual consent last Friday – and now Smith is back on trial like everybody else, with a new manager set to be named within the next fortnight.

He said: "I didn't think I was going to be playing at the start of the season and just when it looked like I may have won Maurice over he is gone.

"Now a new man is going to be coming in and I will have to do it all over again.

"We were starting to talk about the possibility of a new contract just before Maurice left and now that is off again.

"Every manager has different opinions and when Maurice came I obviously wasn't the sort of player he was looking for.

"I don't want that to happen with the new man and it is always something that is in the back of your mind.

"That sort of thing always makes it a bit difficult when a manager leaves.

"We have had to get on with it, though, because there are games to concentrate on."

None of those games are bigger than this afternoon's West derby clash with Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium.

"Oxford and Bristol City are not in this league any more so I think Rovers are our biggest rivals at the moment," said Smith.

'We have to get on with it'

"We will probably get a bit of abuse, but I like to play in these games in front of big crowds."

Temporary manager David Byrne is aiming for victories in the next three games – if he gets that long – to push his claims to take the job on a full-time basis.

A double cup disappointment in the space of four days last week cut short Malpas' reign at the County Ground but Town remain unbeaten in their last four league games.

"If you take the cup results out of the equation, we are on a good little run of form in the league," Smith said. "We would take a one-goal win or any win really because we need to start picking up points and pushing up the league."

Swindon Town(from): P Smith, Brezovan, J Smith, Aljofree, Ifil, Kanyuka, Morrison, Timlin, Kennedy, McGovern, Easton, Peacock, Marshall, Pook, Nalis, McNamee, Corr, Paynter, Sturrock.