ANALYSIS: Swindon Town Season So Far

SWINDON TOWN travel to league leaders Crewe Alexandra today with the Robins sitting in seventh spot of the standings after 13 games. As the season progresses and we start to see the strengths and weaknesses of Richie Wellens' side emerge, Total Sport Swindon's Rajan Hothi gives his analysis on the season so far.

Following a promising start to the campaign, Swindon have hit a bit of a bump in the road in recent weeks. A run of four winless games in all competitions has seen some of the early momentum come to a halt, but there are certainly reasons to be optimistic. 

However, home form, as it has often been in recent seasons, has been a major cause for concern. 10 points from a possible 21 at home has seen Town struggle to perform in front of their own fans at SN1. 

Wellens has been desperate to change the form at the County Ground since his arrival at the club, but Swindon are winless in their last four in all competitions at home. 

Attendances have improved at home this season, with gates regularly beating the 7,000 mark, but Town fans have only seen three wins in nine home games in all competitions so far this season.

In contrast, the away form has been a highlight so far this season, with Swindon able to boast the fourth-best away record in League Two. 

Swindon's counter-attacking game on the road has seen Town become a force to be reckoned with on their travels. Wins at Scunthorpe, Leyton Orient and Cambridge alongside draws at Exeter and Cheltenham has seen Swindon claim 11 points from a possible 18 away from home.  

Town have scored the third most amount of goals away in the division with ten, but it's the home form that's letting the Robins down again thus far. 

Swindon's potent attacking play has been another high point this season. 20 goals in League Two means Town have scored the third most amount of goals in the league this season and the joint-11th most in the entirety of the top-four divisions in England. 

What is perhaps more impressive is the form of strikers Jerry Yates and Eoin Doyle who both joined the club on loan deals in the summer. Doyle is the top goalscorer in League Two with eight goals whilst Yates has managed to notch six taking their impressive partnership up to 14 goals. 

However, with the pair being at the club on loan, their parent clubs Bradford and Rotherham may choose to recall them in January which would leave Swindon in a predicament as the duo have scored 14 of Swindon's 20 league goals this season.

Whilst going forward Swindon have been impressive, they are leaking far too many goals. Town have only managed three clean sheets in their 13 league games, and they have conceded the joint-most in the top seven.

If this Swindon side are to challenge for promotion, they will need to find a fix to their defensive problems which has seen them concede 11 goals in their last six games, while only mustering three goals in reply.

Swindon's high-press game has also seen them sustain several injuries and suffer from fatigue so early on in the season. Jordan Lyden, Dion Conroy, Mathieu Baudry, Kaiyne Woolery, Keshi Anderson, Lloyd Isgrove, Diallang Jaiyesimi, Zeki Fryers and Ellis Iandolo have all suffered injuries so far this season. 

Fatigue has possibly started to set in with Swindon beginning to concede late in games. In their last five league games, Wellens' side have conceded four goals in the last fifteen minutes of the game. 

Swindon are certainly in a much better position than they were in this time 12 months ago. A poor run of results still sees Swindon in the top-seven, and just three points adrift of a top-three spot, but there are things to work on for Wellens and co.