Charlie Austin and Gavin Gunning said that Swindon being less patient was key to success against Grimsby

Gavin Gunning and Charlie Austin both agreed that Swindon’s less patient approach paid dividends in their 5-0 win against Grimsby on Saturday. Total Sport’s Joe Acklam spoke to the interim head coach and goalscorer after the match.

Town saw no ill effects of losing their manager in the week as they put on a clinic against the Mariners, with Austin, Marcel Lavinier, Jonny Williams, Ronan Darcy, and Saidou Khan all getting on the scoresheet.

Gunning and Austin both agreed that Swindon took a more aggressive approach in their game plan and it paid off handsomely.

Gunning said: “I think the lads were just hungry, they played with more fluency on the ball, we played with a quicker tempo and we didn’t slow the game down.

“We weren’t mechanical at times or just not moving the ball at speed, we were in, out, forward.

“It was a bit too much at times when we played forward too early, but sometimes you have to go over the press to utilise what you have got in a team and we did that really well today.

“There was a lot of work that went on during the week to play to a good structure and then as the game developed they had a man sent off and we changed our shape.

“We went to two wing-backs and three centre halves and it really worked.

“We played through the lines really fast, quick tempo, move the ball, put the ball in the net, very good.”

Austin concurred with his manager’s view of the game, saying that he felt there was more freedom than he had seen in previous games.

Austin said: “The lads bought into the formation that they wanted to play, and it was free-flowing attacking football and basically go and express ourselves.

“I am all for possession football, but also you need to attack and today I thought we turned them.

“In times where I have watched the team, we have tried to pass it back, this time we tried to turn them and press them up.

“With myself, Rush [Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, Jonny [Williams], and Jake [Wakeling] we were superb in pushing them forward.

“Even when they turned then Sads [Saidou Khan] and Ellis [Iandolo] were brilliant at winning the second ball.

“Sometimes it is about game management, sometimes they can turn the ball and push up, but it is not always about playing the ball and playing through it.

“We all want to play nice football, but it is not always possible and you have to play the ugly side.

“In the first 20 minutes we tried to play, but we didn’t play great and it was a bit ugly, we stopped them from getting shots and we were compact as a team.

“When we got the first goal it was game on for us and we showed our quality.”