Cheltenham Town legend Jimmy Smith is backing his old boss Steve Cotterill to steer the club away from the League Two relegation zone.

The 61-year-old Cotterill has been confirmed as the club’s new manager before their game at home to Fleetwood Town on Saturday and Smith, who lives in Bishop’s Cleeve, believes he is the right man for the job.

“I think he will keep them up,” he said. “It’s still very early in the season - we’re not even a quarter of the way through - and he’s a very experienced manager.

“Only two go down, if it were three or four that would make it tougher but if they finish 22nd they stay up.

“He’s been around the block and he knows what he’s doing, they’ve got plenty of time.”

Smith, who scored more than 120 goals for the club during the 1990s, played for Cotterill at the start of his first spell as manager of the club.

It was a spell that saw them win three promotions, culminating with that never-to-be-forgotten play-off final at the Millennium Stadium in May 2002 when they beat Rushden & Diamonds 3-1 to clinch a place in League One.

That was just one of many highlights of Cotterill’s five-and-a-half year reign which also saw them win what is now the National League, reach the Football League for the first time in their 100-years plus history and win the FA Trophy at Wembley, also a first for the club.

Since then Cotterill has gone on to manage the likes of Stoke City,  Burnley, Notts County, Portsmouth, Nottingham Forest, Bristol City, Birmingham City and Shrewsbury Town in a standout career that has seen him take charge of more than 1,000 games.

The one-time Cheltenham striker was at Forest Green Rovers last season, guiding them to the National League play-offs after the club had suffered back-to-back relegations.

That was a tough job and the Cheltenham job will be tough as well because the club have just one win and a draw from their opening 10 games and are bottom of the table.

They also have the worst goal difference in the division - minus 20 - after losing 7-1 at Grimsby Town on Saturday when they had two players sent off.

That defeat, under caretaker managers Aaron Downes and Ashley Vincent, followed the departure of previous boss Michael Flynn at the start of the week.

Cheltenham have managed just four goals in their 10 league games but they're only a point adrift of Shrewsbury Town and Newport County, the two teams immediately above them.

“Yes, he’s got a big job but I think people are getting carried away with the position they are in,” Smith continued. “They’ve not been left behind.

“They are obviously conceding too many goals and that’s something that he will focus on straight away.

“He’ll have to work with the same players but he’ll get them much better organised, he’s always been very good at setting up teams not to concede.

“If you’re conceding two goals a game, then you’ve got to score three to win and that’s very difficult.”

Cheltenham haven’t scored more than once in any league game this season - their only win came at home to Accrington Stanley at the start of September - and Smith added: “It is a concern but that’s something that Steve will worry about later, he’ll tighten up the defence first.”