SWINDON Town manager Mark Cooper described his side’s injury situation as ‘emergency ward 10’ after the Robins reached the second round of the Capital One Cup with a 2-1 victory at Luton Town last night.

Two goals from Michael Smith turned a 1-0 deficit around for Swindon, who had fallen behind to Luke Rooney’s 54th-minute penalty. However, the win came at a price for the visiting Robins – already thin on the ground when it comes to squad numbers.

Brad Smith stretched a medial ligament, effectively ruling him out of the weekend trip to Crawley Town in League One, while Louis Thompson picked up a dead leg and is a doubt for the visit to the Broadfield Stadium.

Meanwhile, both Jordan Turnbull and Jack Barthram required stitches in head injuries, though the pair carried on to the game’s conclusion, while Anton Rodgers’s can has revealed knee damage that will take at least two weeks to heal.

It is hardly an ideal situation for Cooper, whose side have a 100 per cent record in 2014/15.

He summed up the match by saying: “We kept going and kept to our principles, even though we were a goal down, and stuck to our beliefs. We came through in the end.

“I thought we dominated possession. It’s like emergency ward 10 in our changing room, there’s blood everywhere but the boys kept going. They kept passing the ball, made Luton Town run and in the end we wore them out and that’s what got us our goals.

“I thought they were all really good. I thought it was an outstanding away performance.”

Town have rejected two approaches for Michael Smith in recent weeks, with chairman Lee Power suggesting Coventry City have enquired about the big striker.

With four goals in two matches this term, however, Power said ‘silly money’ would be required to prise the frontman from Swindon’s grasp.

Cooper said of Smith: “We love big Smudge to bits. He works his socks off, the boys love him because he never stops – he chases and harries and runs – and sometimes when you work that hard you get your reward and he’s getting them now.”

Meanwhile, the Robins have taken Australian striker Joel Chianase on trial. The five-foot, nine-inch striker has been on the books of Sydney United for the past two seasons and will train with Town for the first time on Thursday.