5 Things We Learnt: Swindon Town (1) v (1) Plymouth Argyle

SWINDON TOWN extended their winless streak to three league games yesterday as a second-half goal from Joel Grant ensured Plymouth took one point away from the County Ground. Total Sport Swindon's Ryan Walker gives his analysis on '5 things we learnt' following the result.

1.) Fitness is a problem

Swindon Town played exceptional in the first-half yesterday as they pressed high and came forward wave after wave in attack. But prior to Plymouth equalising, the hosts sat deep and looked dogged in their attempts to close down play. 

Eventually, Argyle got the goal they craved and speaking after the game STFC manager Richie Wellens admitted that recent injury lay-offs for members of yesterdays starting squad caused some to struggle as the match entered its final stages. The solution is to get minutes for those who are still not fully match fit but this is a difficult conundrum for Wellens to solve. 

2.) Substitutions aren’t good enough 

Ryan Lowe’s substitutions changed the game yesterday as Jose Baxter and George Cooper played an influential part in Plymouth’s equalising goal. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the performance of Swindon’s Michael Doughty and Kaiyne Woolery who were both introduced to the match in the second half. 

After being brought on, neither did much to influence the game in Town’s favour with Doughty failing to use his creativity in the ways which fans have become accustomed to, whilst Woolery was poor I’m his decision-making as Swindon pushed for a winning goal in the closing moments of the game. 

Wellens said after the game that he is not seeing enough quality from those players in training but things must improve as we edge closer towards the halfway stage of the season. 

3.) Steven Benda will be Town’s number one

Having impressed on Tuesday night, Steven Benda was given the nod ahead of Luke McCormick as the on-loan Swansea keeper made his league debut yesterday. In front of the biggest County Ground crowd of the season, Benda cut an assured figure between the sticks, impressing with his aerial capabilities and reactive shot-stopping. 

Balls into his box were collected with confidence whilst he made himself big to deny Plymouth winning the game in the final few minutes. Wellens revealed that McCormick is suffering with confidence at the moment so expect Benda to keep his place between the sticks. 

4.) Grant is key to Swindon’s success

Anthony Grant returned to the Town starting XI yesterday and his influence in the centre of the park was evident for all to see. The on-loan Shrewsbury midfielder isn’t flashy with the ball at his feet, instead he executes the simple things with excellence, spreading the ball around the field with ease and getting Swindon on the front foot. 

The 32-year-old is key to Town’s defensive structure as well with Grant’s willingness to get stuck in and break play up offering significant protection to Swindon’s defence. Fans will be keen to see his loan deal extended. 

5.) Positive start to season is disappearing

After starting the season in great form, Richie Wellens and Swindon now find themselves in a rut of poor form. Yesterday’s draw so Town extend their run without a league win to three games, with the Robins also winning just one of their last five matches. 

Injuries have had a massive factor on Town this season but their inability to close out matches when in winning positions is cause for concern. Wellens is keen to state that all teams in League Two will go through good and bad patches but if Swindon are serious about automatic promotion then they must improve against the leagues bigger teams. 

Town are still only five points off the top of the table so it’s not all doom and gloom but a testing trip away to league leaders Crewe awaits Swindon in their next fixture.