Ben Garner criticised Oldham for being overly physical as Dion Conroy’s late headed goal earned Swindon a 1-0 victory over the 10-man Latics.

Five yellow cards in the first half summarised the tactics of Oldham boss John Sheridan as the match remained goalless at half-time.

Five minutes of stoppage time handed Swindon a lifeline as Oldham’s Jordan Clark was sent off for a second bookable offence for a foul on Mandela Egbo and captain Dion Conroy rose highest at the back post to earn Swindon a hard-fought victory.

Swindon head coach Garner said: “We always hope it does come. We were the team pushing and trying to force it.

“We showed great character to keep pushing and we kept trying to play. I know we scored late on but we thoroughly deserved the three points.

“Their goalkeeper played very well, but it was an overly-physical game in my opinion.

“I thought there were some bad tackles in the first half and we were fortunate not to come away with another injury off the back of those.

“In terms of our control it was the best we’ve played in a long time, we just didn’t spark enough in the final third.

“That ability to unlock a defence or find a finish is the hardest part of the game.

“We got into positions regularly and had some really good bits of play that we didn’t make count. When a team sits you take that extra second rather than doing things quick.”

Chances were few and far between for either side during a lacklustre first half as both teams rarely looked like scoring.

Speculative efforts from range failed to test either keeper with Swindon dominating possession but failing to break down a staunch opposition defence, whilst Oldham enjoyed few touches in Swindon’s half with Dylan Bahamboula providing the rare bright spark.

Oldham boss Sheridan said: “We are down to concede again with almost the last kick of the game.

“We should not be giving a silly foul away that’s what’s caused it. We should never give a cheap foul away in that silly area at that time of the game.

“Yeah, but we make silly fouls and decisions and so a lot of is probably our fault.

“Now it’s very frustrating at times, I’ve had a little go at them but it’s not time to be hard the game is gone now.

“They are a good footballing side. We defended well at times but our ability on the ball is poor.

“There were one or two little chances we did have when we did want to try and open them up.

“ It’s not about me pushing the players. I think they’ve got to push each other more. But we’re very short on bodies now.”