Cheltenham Town 0 Swindon Town 2

22:57, 29 Dec 2025Updated 23:07, 29 Dec 2025

Your thoughts on tonight’s game?

Probably beaten by the better team. Didn’t play as well as we know we can. We’ve given away a couple of soft goals. Second one is definitely defendable. The first one, he actually could have been offside. Those defining moments in the box, we’ve had three or four balls in the box in that period of 60-75 minutes, with good crosses flashing across the box that would be an easier finish than the finishes they’ve had for their goals. We’ve not done as well in our box tonight as we could have done.

Two goals from set pieces, how disappointing is that?

It doesn’t matter where the goals come from, every goal is a disappointment. Not everyone has an Ollie Palmer or a (Ryan) Tafazolli in their team. It’s easier said than done, to mark those players that cause havoc in your box.

First half was quite even and Luke Young had a really good chance

Yes, probably a little bit even. When we changed, I thought we had the momentum in the game and we were on our front foot for the first time. I am not sure whether that was because we were a goal down and chasing and all of a sudden we show a little bit more courage in that part of the game. Early on, you can think you’ll make a change, but we were in the flow with three or four balls going across the box. You then think, if I make subs now, I disrupt the flow that we’ve got. When you don’t score them, you wish you’d made the subs earlier. Sometimes you can’t win with that.

You started the second half well so was the first goal against the run of play?

It did, yes. So did the second one. If you look at the build-up, they definitely did. All of a sudden, a goal down, you need one of those chances to go in and we didn’t put one away. It can happen. They boys have been really, really good. Tonight, I don’t think they were perhaps themselves. But we still had more of the ball than a team in the top three. That’s something at least because we might not have had more of the ball down there, but we go and win 1-0. It’s swings and roundabouts and not every moment of improvement is going to show up in a result.

Was it disappointing not to test the goalkeeper more?

It’ll always be disappointing. I’d like their goalkeeper to have to make 10 saves a game, but sometimes what you’d like doesn’t always happen. The bottom line is they are a better team than us. There is no point in us thinking we are hard done by or whatever, they are better than us. Their squad is better than ours, that’s the bottom line. We are a fair bit behind them. We did really, really well down there and we caught them. I think they were more ready for us tonight. I’ve spoken to the boys about that. Sometimes you just have to take it and I don’t like taking any defeat, but sometimes you just have to take it.

You’ve been asking the same core of players to go to the well, maybe a game too far for one or two?

What do you want me to do then, pick all the subs? Why do you think the players are subs. Look, let’s be straight about it, the team I pick hasn’t done badly so far. You know what’ll happen, they’ll be going again. And do you know after that, they’ll be going again. That’s what’ll happen. If you want to drop five or six different players on me and they are going to be better than the ones in the starting line-up, brilliant, we’ll have them. What else do you want to talk about, the timing of the subs being too late? I don’t know what else you want me to do, or what you are asking there. I’d imagine if all the subs tonight were good enough to be in the starting line-up all the time, or had done enough in the matches I wanted before I got here, I am pretty sure they’d have been in the starting line-up. That’s where it is.

Onto Crewe now on New Year’s Day. How hard is it to get the preparation in for these games?

It happens. It doesn’t matter how difficult the preparation is, we have to prepare. You have to do it again for the next one. Whatever I say, we’ll be playing in a couple of days’ time and after that we’ll be playing in a couple of days’ time, again. It’s irrelevant really, whether I agree with it or not. It doesn’t matter. It’s what we have to do, so it’s what we have to do. Tough night.

Highest crowd in League Two since January 2006, so the fans are responding in their numbers

I am not the best when we lose anyway, at the best of times. I’ve been working hard at trying to turn around a team bottom of the league and everyone told me was going to get relegated when I came in, into a team that’s just competed. We made two mistakes with a team probably looking to go up this year. Tonight is just a flat, disappointing night.

If someone had offered you 10 points off the relegation zone going into 2026, would you have taken it?

Yes, probably. Tonight I feel flat. Disappointed, flat. We have to rehabilitate and get back on the training ground again and try to sort a team out for Crewe and that’s what we’ll do. A disappointing night for me. I wanted to win, I always want to win.