Richie Wellens reflects on action-packed Burton victory

RICHIE WELLENS praised the work of his Swindon Town players as they secured a 4-2 home victory over Burton Albion yesterday, but insisted there are still more improvements to be made if Swindon are to be realistic playoff contenders this season. Total Sport Swindon’s Ryan Walker spoke to the STFC manager in the aftermath of the result.

A second County Ground victory of the season has seen Swindon take maximum points from their two opening home games, scoring six goals in the process as they cement their place in the top half of the League One table. 

Coming up against a Burton side who arrived in Wiltshire high on confidence, Wellens said the result shows the brilliant work himself and his team are doing behind the scenes, but admitted games were made harder without the backing of a lively SN1 crowd.

“The result pleased me most. I don’t think we played absolutely brilliantly but in the first half an hour when we switched the ball, got our wide players in, pressed well and scored three goals from pressing them high up we were spot on,” said Wellens.

“They’re a good team and were always going to have moments in the game. 

“We conceded the first goal just before half-time which obviously has an effect on the second half because it gives them a bit of belief. 

“We then got the fourth goal and then we switched off from a cross in the last 15 minutes when they scored but we managed to see the game out,” he added.

“I don’t mind winning 3-1 or 4-2 every week but the honest answer is we don’t know what things will be like because no one has ever lived like this before.

“If we’re winning 4-1 and there are 15 minutes to go then the crowd would help take the sting out the game. 

“It’s really weird but the fan situation isn’t going to change for a few months so we just need to get on with it. 

“We need the fans back because after taking six points from our first two home games, this place would be bouncing,” said Wellens.

Three first-half goals courtesy of debutant Jordan Stevens, Brett Pitman, and Mathieu Baudry, all but concluded the final result before half-time as Swindon’s free-flowing attacking football was too much for Burton to handle. 

However, a sweet strike before half-time, followed up by Lucas Akins headed header late in the second-half caused a few nervy exchanges as Burton threatened to get back into the game. 

When asked for his thoughts on Burton’s late resurgence, Wellens explained that a lack of match time is causing energy levels to drop in the closing stages of matches.

“Baudry hasn’t played many minutes, Jonny Smith has been struggling with his asthma all week, and Jordan Stevens has played a few under-23s games but you can see he was flagging a bit at the end because he isn’t used to the pace of this game,” stated Wellens.

“Brett Pitman hasn’t played a league 90 minutes for about 8 months and it was natural our energy levels would drop a bit. 

“Burton like to play a lot of passes into the front players and they were a threat at times,” he added.

The Swindon Town manager also revealed that a lack of game management was allowing opposition teams chances to get back into games, explaining that this was something he would address in training.

“We have to set-up certain training sessions for it and the game management comes from us on the sidelines,” said Wellens.

“Every coach and every manager is the best player on the side because we aren’t playing the game at 100 miles-per-hour.

“We can see every single thing so the information has to come from us. But it’s the experience of going through them situations,” he said.

“At Blackpool last week when we were getting the beat the pitch became to big for us, so next time if we’re behind and away from home against a speedy team, the gaps won’t be so big. 

“Today if we’re winning 4-2 with ten minutes to go, we know what areas Burton are going to play in and the game changes. 

“You have to respect that the opposition will change their game, and we have to change as well,” added the STFC manager.

Yesterday’s performance also gave Swindon Town fans their first glimpse of new signing Jordan Stevens after the 20-year-old signed on a season-long loan deal from Leeds United earlier in the week. 

And it didn’t take long for him to make an impact as the Gloucester-born winger pounced on a Jack Payne through ball to give Swindon the lead with a well-taken shot across goal in the 7th minute. 

But Wellens explained he wasn’t surprised by the youngsters fast-start, as Swindon put four past Burton to earn their biggest win of the season so far.

“That’s exactly what we got him in to do,” said Wellens.

“He can press from the front, makes a great tackle for the first goal and then his reaction was brilliant to run into the space for Jack Payne to find him.

“He’s very quick and difficult to catch,” he added.

Wellens also reserved praise for Brett Pitman, as the seasoned striker scored his first goal for the club with a neat finish from just inside the Burton box, with the manager explaining that the 32-year old offers a different threat to the youthful Tyler Smith who remained on the bench for the entirety of the game.

“Brett and Tyler are totally different and we thought we would have a lot more ball than we had,” said Wellens.

“But when you score three quick goals, the opposition tend to have a bit more possession than is usual. 

“Pitman helps you with dealing with crosses into the box and his game knowledge of when to go and where to go along with his physicality is different to what we have.

“We worked on cutbacks and we knew that Burton’s centre-backs like to retreat to the edge of the six-yard box so we spoke to the players and told them if you ever get to that position can you look for the pull-back and luckily it was a good finish,” said the manager.