Phil Brown happy with performance, despite Swindon cup exit

Swindon Town manager Phil Brown insists ‘We did enough to win a football game’ as Town were eliminated from the Carabao Cup following a shock one-nil home defeat to Forest Green Rovers. TotalSport Swindon’s was in the press room to get the thoughts of Brown following the match.

A positive performance from Town seen the hosts dominate proceedings at the County Ground. However, a 59th-minute Thavon Campbell goal was enough to make the difference as Swindon suffered another cup exit. Despite the loss, however, Brown states it was another good performance from his side.

“I don’t think it did go wrong,” said Brown.

“I looked at the game on its merits and we had nine shots on target.

“They had one and they’ve beaten us one-nil.

“I wouldn’t class that as going wrong, I would say we were very unfortunate tonight,” he added. 

Early opportunities put Swindon on the front-foot and Brown was honest in his appraisal as he stated his squad tried everything possible to win the game. 

“Swindon Town were without a doubt the best team coming in at half-time,” he added.

“I’m absolutely devastated for the young lads in the changing room that think there must be another way to win a game of football.”

“What we’ve done is by far enough to win a game of football,” said Brown.

The visitor’s goal gave them the confidence to push on and Brown admitted his side probably rushed their play after conceding. But when questioned on the goal, the manager highlighted the referee’s mistake for not giving a foul on Lancashire.

“Olly Lancashire put his head in for a challenge, got an elbow in the face and that caused my young centre-half to panic a bit,” said Brown.

“The balls ended up in the back of the net and it’s one-nil.

“Goals change games and when they started to shut up shop and hold onto their lead, we as a young new group started to play into Elijah (Adebayo) too quickly,” he added.

“I know what I’ve witnessed tonight and I hope the Swindon Town fans have witnessed the same. 

“We didn’t score, they did, and it’s as simple as that,” said the manager.

A third straight defeat could be cause for concern, however, Phil Brown was shrewd in his response when questioned on Swindon’s start to the season.

“I don’t think there is too much to concern ourselves about the game,” stated Brown. 

“The result is the thing that journalists as professionals will analyse. 

“Some will look at the match and say it’s a third defeat in a row and something must be going wrong.

“If you look at tonight’s performance then nothing has gone wrong,” he added.