Town Captain Nathan Thompson pulled no punches when assessing his side’s West Country Derby defeat to Bristol Rovers on Saturday.
Swindon were way below their best during the first-half at The Memorial Stadium and Billy Bodin’s fine strike proved to be the difference between the two sides.
The Reds were improved after the break but were unable to claw a goal back, leaving Thompson left to rue his side’s below-par first-half display.
“The first-half cost us. It was extremely disappointing and we came off the pitch at half-time and we knew we were way off it,” he said.
“We had no control in the game, they dominated us in all areas of the pitch and ultimately it cost us.
“If we only start playing football in the second-half of games then we’re going to continue to find ourselves in the position we are.
“We know it wasn’t good enough and I understand the fans’ frustrations completely.
“We’ll do everything we can now to put it right for next weekend.
“It was tough in midfield because if you don’t have control in the game then you are going to get outrun and we did.
“It is extremely disappointing.
“We were overrun in there and when you have got such creative players like Ben Gladwin, John Goddard and Charlie Colkett on the pitch then you rely on them to make something happen, but if we can’t get them on the ball in promising positions then we’re doing ourselves a disservice and I felt we did that first-half.
“Second-half was better but we lacked that cutting edge at times but it was a slight improvement on the first-half performance.
“We were way off it in the first-half as I said and they had numerous chances. We probably didn’t have the most clean-cut chances and again we were disappointing in the final-third.
“When you are only going to get a couple of chances in these kind of games you have to take them and you have to be clinical - we weren’t able to do that and it ultimately cost us.”
Town have struggled to add consistency to their game so far this season and Thompson admits that has been their downfall.
“It has been the story of our season,” he added.
“We’ve been extremely inconsistent and for a long time I felt we allowed our heads to drop when we’ve gone behind in games.
“I thought Bolton was going to be the turning point but we haven’t been able to follow it up and it is so disappointing.
“I said to the boys in the huddle before the game on Saturday that if you look on paper then this is one of the most promising bunch of lads in the division.
“We’ve got so many creative players who can go and change a game in a heartbeat and the fact that we’re not able to do that at this moment in time is what is most disappointing and frustrating.”
Finally, Thompson is now focused on getting back on track and getting ready for next weekend’s big Derby Day game against Oxford United at SN1.
“I’m a fan myself so I completely understand the frustration and I completely accept that, so as Captain I will do everything in my power to turn our fortunes around,” he continued.
“We all know how important the Oxford game is and if we can go and pick up three points then hopefully we can change that mood.
“We need to forget Saturday now and it is difficult to say that so soon after the defeat, but if we’re going to pick up three points next weekend then we need to forget about that performance very quickly.
“We need to get back on the training pitch on Monday and work extremely hard.
“We’ve got a good group of lads and on our day we can beat any team in this league, so it is important we now really focus on that big Derby game.”
