SWINDON Town head coach Scott Lindsey said his side was “not aggressive enough” in key moments at both ends of the pitch following a 2-1 defeat to Northampton Town on Saturday.
A lacklustre first half at the County Ground made way for a more open 45 minutes in which Jonny Williams opened the scoring, only to see Mitch Pinnock and Ben Fox combine twice to snatch all three points late on.
First, substitute Fox flicked in a near-post free-kick to equalise before the pair swapped roles and Pinnock volleyed home from open play in the 88th minute.
Post-match, Lindsey was frustrated to see two avoidable goals find their way past Sol Brynn and admitted his forwards were not as clinical as they needed to be.
Lindsey said: “It is frustrating to see individual errors, but we don’t look at it like that. We look at it as a team.
“As a team, we should defend better in both moments, and we didn’t. But like I said, there were certainly goal-scoring opportunities that we didn’t take.
“When you play against a side of Northampton’s quality, you’re probably only going to get three or four moments where you might score. I felt we found those moments, but we weren’t aggressive enough.
“We had a few half-chances as well. But did we do enough to win the game? No, I don’t think – as a team – we did.”
In a slow first half at SN1, Swindon saw more of the ball while the Cobblers had the better of the chances – yet the visitors failed to put Brynn’s goal under any real threat.
Dominating possession has been the norm for Swindon this season, but unlike in many of their recent matches, Lindsey’s men were not as energetic as they aimed to create chances.
Analysing his side’s lack of first-half urgency, the Swindon head coach said: “They sat off us to a degree, but I felt we were slow coming out with the ball.
“I also believe our movement wasn’t there for the boys at the back bringing the ball out. I thought it was quite pedestrian in front of them, and we spoke about that at half-time.
“We needed to have a little bit more definite movement, be a little bit quicker with our rotations, and possibly get further up the pitch.
“Sometimes the opposition block you up and stop you from making movements. They did that, so you’ve got to give a bit of credit to them.
“But we also have to be more pro-active, more attacking, and more aggressive in our play.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel