Michael Doughty was pleased with Town’s performance against Eastleigh on Friday night but conceded that they need to be more clinical in the final-third.
The midfielder scored from the penalty spot to secure a 1-1 draw and a replay in the First Round of the Emirates FA Cup at the Silverlake Stadium last night after Mikael Mandron had nodded the hosts in-front.
And, speaking to the media in the wake of the game, Doughty reflected on what was an entertaining tie.
“It was a tough game and I don’t think we’ll face a sterner test in terms of physicality this season,” he said.
“The pitch really cut up a lot which made it difficult and physically that was hard in terms of endurance for the whole 90 minutes.
“But credit to Eastleigh because they battled and stuck to what they were good at which were set-pieces. We didn’t deal with that well enough again and I felt we showed quality at times and probably deserved the draw, but we need to be more clinical in order to win games.
“It is hard at the moment because we are playing well and moving the ball well but we’re just not really scoring at key moments in the game when we’re on top.
“It is such an obvious thing but goals do change and win games. We need to become much better than that.”
Doughty notched his third goal of the season last night and the Town star was just happy to be back in the thick of the action following a frustrating spell on the sidelines.
“I’m designated penalty taker now and I might have to change it up a little bit because I’ve gone the same way three times in a row, but I’m just pleased to be back contributing,” he continued.
“It was a frustrating couple of months for me and it is just nice to be out there now and being part of the team again.
“We need to improve but we’ve got the type of characters in the squad that are showing that willingness to improve and that’s the main thing.”
Finally, Doughty praised the character of his team-mates to respond so quickly after going a goal down against Eastleigh, and is confident that Town will come out on top in the replay.
“I’m extremely optimistic and I go into every game wanting to win and I think we will win it,” he added.
“Friday night was a test of character, a test of desire and a test of just having to roll up your sleeves and get on with it.
“At times you do have to do the ugly things and we did okay at that, we certainly did better than we have done in recent weeks and that’s a real positive.
“We can certainly improve and we certainly have to improve but I think there are real signs there that we are looking forward and with some big players like Lloyd Jones and Jon Obika to come back, we’ve got a good team there.
“I don’t want to pat us on the back too much for bouncing back so quickly because we did go behind and we shouldn’t concede goals like that in my opinion and we need to do better at that, but when we did go behind we had to show some character.
“Personally, that is a prerequisite for putting on a Swindon shirt and wanting to win, wanting to score and any game you go into giving it absolutely your all and I think the lads did that on Friday.
“No one is disappointed because everyone recognised what a tough game it was. My overriding reaction was pleased with the performance and we take them back to our place with a high chance of winning.”
