Swindon Town

TOWN manager Mark Cooper spoke to the media after the 1-0 win over Port Vale.

On the win…
We should be cruising at the end of the game rather than having to defend balls into our box. We need to be better and clinical when we have chances to kill the game off. We should be winning that three or four nil. We played well and should have gone in (at half time) ahead. We knew Port Vale would make it difficult for us. At half time (we asked for) more of the same: just keep playing and it will come and it did.

On killing the game off…
When its 1-0 and teams are putting balls in the box it’s edgy because anything can happen - that’s why we have to kill games off a lot sooner. I’m happy with how we defended. We kept a clean sheet but that game should never be 1-0.

On the remainder of 2014/15…
We’re halfway. There are 23 games to go and an awful lot of football to be played. We’ve got to keep going and keep performing.

On Andy Williams…
We always knew Andy could be a big asset to us and he’s the one looking most likely at the moment. He’s a really good professional and he’s starting to show that he can be a real goal-scorer. Andy is not a ranter and raver, he leads by example and he’s a calming influence in the changing room.

On Massimo Luongo…
I thought he was incredible. We asked him to be the holding midfield player – I’ve seen him do it before - and he was outstanding. He thoroughly deserves his Man of the Match award. He goes (to the Asia Cup) with our best wishes. He could have ducked out today and made sure he didn’t get injured but he wore his heart on his sleeve and that’s the kind of player we need.