Swindon Town players rated after Exeter City defeat

Joel Cotterill’s low, rasping drive did have Town on level terms following Ed Francis’ opener but Jack Aitchison whipped in the winner from outside the box with nine minutes remaining.

So, how did the players fare as individuals at St James Park?

It was another frustrating night for Swindon (Image: Newsquest)

GK: Dan Barden – 5

It was an interesting debut for the man that has been brought in to challenge Jack Bycroft. He made one good save from a one-on-one, but there were not many shots on target. His kicking seemed a bit messy, particularly going longer but he is still bedding in.

RCB: Harrison Minturn – 6

This game was probably bigger for Minturn than it was for anyone else given his limited playing time and he did well. Exeter were having joy getting runners down the side and his combative approach snuffed that out a few times. His passing is more conservative but he rarely gives the ball away.

CB: Will Wright – 6

It is good to see that he can slot comfortably into the middle of the back three when Grant Hall is unavailable. He frequently was able to break the lines with his passing and get Swindon into advanced areas.

LCB: Miguel Freckleton – 5

After a very good display at the weekend, I was a little bit disappointed with Freckleton in this game. Partially because he had less protection, he didn’t get forward in the same way and seemed to struggle against pace, which hadn’t previously been the case.

RWB: Tunmise Sobowale – 5

A lot of Swindon’s attacking threat was coming down the left but he did link up well with Cotterill a few times. We only saw one or two of his rampaging runs and the quality and quantity of the crossing needs to step up.

CM: Joel Cotterill – 7

Cotterill has really come into his own since moving to a more advanced role, and he even looked more comfortable when he moved deeper in the second half, such is the confidence he seems to have gained. He moves the ball quickly and makes very good attacking runs to unsettle defence and, obviously, scored a magnificent first goal.

CDM: Gavin Kilkenny – 6

Kilkenny possibly played with slightly less purpose in this game, but his class was still plain to see. He continued to dictate the play from deep along with Wright and got Swindon playing expansively on both sides of the pitch but without truly unlocking Exeter.

CM: Danny Butterworth – 6

I would have liked to see Butterworth get on the ball more but I remain very excited by him. Every time he does touch it, he plays with purpose and drives at defenders. He got one shot off and he just feels like the type of player to get you off your seat. But 25 touches in an hour was not enough.

LWB: Jake Cain – 5

Cain’s performance is quite a hard one to judge as, Jeff King at Crawley Town aside, it was the best attacking display by a Swindon wing-back this season. He made space, he put eight crosses in, and linked up well down the side. However, he was also a turnstile defensively as Exeter frequently exploited the space behind him. Overall it probably evens out to the middle.

ST: Kabongo Tshimanga - 5

A bit like Butterworth it was about the flashes. His one-on-one in the second half was tremendous play to shrug off Pierce Sweeney and he was unlucky not to score. But he never really got into the game in the first half and if you don’t score then you need to do more.

ST: Aaron Drinan – 5

I have got the feeling that the confidence he had towards the end of last season isn’t there any more. He had Swindon’s best two chances with the one-on-one and a shot from the edge of the box and snatched at both. He does really well to create the openings with his running but nobody in this team is being clinical right now.

Substitutes:

Ollie Clarke – 7

This might have been Clarke’s best display as he answered any concerns by adding real energy to the team. Exeter looked far more frazzled with him on the pitch and he nearly created a very good goal for himself.

Jeff King – 4

Mark Kennedy’s hand was forced by fitness decisions with the substitutions, but they did unsettle what had been a fast start to the second half. King never really got involved to help find that winner.

Ryan Delaney – 5

This was a stable first introduction for Delaney. He is still easing his way back into contention after a long injury and he looked fairly comfortable with what he was doing but will take some time to get properly up to speed.

Harry Smith – 4

Other than one good moment pressing for Clarke’s chance, the creativity seemed to evaporate after he came on (which is obviously not his fault). For a team built to attack from out wide, you want to see the giant in the middle given more chances to dunk on people.

Paul Glatzel – N/A