Swindon Town's Luke Williams 'needs John Goddard to get over his miss'

Swindon Town head coach has stressed the need for Johnny Goddard to move on from his missed chance against the MK Dons quickly.

With the score at 1-0 in favour of Milton Keynes, and only a few minutes of the second half played, Goddard was put through on goal by a brilliant Charlie Colkett pass and the midfielder looked odds-on to score with only the keeper to beat and Nicky Ajose in support, but instead his shot was straight at goalkeeper Lee Nicholls and out for a corner.

Swindon did eventually manage to get the leveller to save themselves a point as well as keeping their survival hopes alive, but everyone connected with Swindon was left ruing the missed chance that could have led to the Robins getting all three points.

Head coach Luke Williams leaped to the defence of Goddard though when he was asked whether he reckons the 23-year-old needed a bit of uplifting after a setback of that kind.

"John Goddard's one was a fantastic opportunity, he was in front of the goalkeeper, he only needed to select the right finish or square to Nicky (Ajose)," Williams said.

"John's sitting there dwelling on it and I need him to try and get it out of his head and (to) move on because there's another game around the corner.

"When you're a footballer and there's a decision to make, whether you square it or shoot, to be honest I'd rather have players (who) are willing at least to take the responsibility on to shoot, then the perfect one is the one who is willing to shoot and doesn't feel the pressure, but recognises when it's better to pass it to someone else.

"John will get to that stage in his career when everything is clearer for him, I've got no problem with that."

Goddard jumped two divisions when he signed for Swindon from Woking in the summer of 2016 for an undisclosed fee after he scored 16 goals in the National League last season.

Since making the move to the County Ground, Goddard has only managed three goals, one of them from the penalty spot, as he has been deployed in a number of positions, from his natural number 10, to out on the wing, centre midfield and even at wing-back on occasion.

Williams was defiant when asked whether Goddard is still adapting to life in the Football League, given his goal tally has not quite lived up to the heights he set while at Woking.

"No, no, no. It's a completely different level of football and, with all due respect to players that are playing there (non-league), because there are very good players that will step up, I have no about that, but there's a huge difference and John has adapted, I think, extremely well to the level.

"Even to score in the league on your first full season is an achievement and he's scored three - there's no problem."