Michael Flynn said that Swindon Town do not know how to do the “nasty side” of the game needed to win a match following their 4-2 defeat against Stockport County.

Town took the lead twice against the League Two pace setters as Dan Kemp got his ninth goal of the season before Jake Young added his 12th, but Will Collar’s penalty and goals from Kyle Wootton, Odin Bailey, and Callum Camps saw Town lose a fifth straight game.

Flynn said that the key difference between the two sides on Saturday was that only one was capable of doing what it takes to win a game.

He said: “It is all good having nice passes and things like that, but if you cannot track runners and stay tight to men in the box then it is going to be a long afternoon.

“These are not things that we are not working on or identifying, I just don’t think they [the players] can do it for the duration of a full game.

“It is about pushing yourself through the barriers and doing the horrible part of the game and we don’t do that anywhere near good enough.

“The squad just don’t like or can’t do the nasty side of the game for the duration of the game; it is as simple as that.

“They proved that they could do it with the start we had, but over the course of the season when you want them to dig in, the effort is there, but it is not good enough.

“Overall Stockport showed that they are a better team than us because they know how to win a football match and they did it extremely well.”

Flynn could not hide his frustration after the game that Swindon were continuing to be punished by familiar mistakes.

He said: “There are reoccurring errors, and it is happening with reoccurring players, I won’t single anybody out, we win and we lose together, but there are certain players who are costing us.

“We are too easy to score against and our defending is appalling at times, letting runners go, letting players turn on the edge of the box and slip someone in because we are not tight enough, free headers in the box, and it is just too easy.

“I have come in here to be open and honest, the fans have seen it, and the number of goals we have conceded in the last nine games is atrocious.”