26 September 2020

Richie Wellens: Swindon not at their best despite convincing scoreline

26 September 2020

Swindon manager Richie Wellens claimed his side were not at their best despite an emphatic 4-2 win at home to Burton.

Former Bournemouth and Portsmouth striker Brett Pitman scored his first Robins goal as Swindon cruised to victory at the County Ground.

Jordan Stevens, Mathieu Baudry and Jonny Smith were also on the scoresheet for Town, with Stephen Quinn and Lucas Akins replying for Burton.

Wellens said: “I don’t think we played absolutely brilliantly.

“But I think in the first half an hour when we switched the ball and got our wide players in, we got our pressing right and scored two or three goals from pressing really high up, we got the timing spot on in the first half an hour

“We conceded the first goal just before half-time and that gave them some belief, we got the fourth but then switched off from the cross.

“They had a lot of possession in the last 10 or 15 minutes but we managed to see the game out.”

Swindon went ahead after seven minutes when Stevens won possession in midfield and then lashed home from the edge of the box after collecting Jack Payne’s through ball.

It was 2-0 when Pitman stroked in first time from another Payne pass, and Baudry headed home Paul Caddis’ corner to make it three after 35 minutes.

Burton pulled a goal back before the break through Quinn’s half-volley from the edge of the box but Jonny Smith restored Swindon’s three-goal lead on the hour when he was left free to convert a Matt Smith pass.

Akins reduced the deficit to 4-2 with a close-range header after 77 minutes but it was only a consolation for visitors.

Burton manager Jake Buxton said: “I am disappointed by the goals we conceded and I am upset with the lack of quality.

“We had enough opportunities in the first half to get the ball down and play.

“Luckily we got the goal just before half-time to give us something to build on but the play with the ball disappointed me the most because Swindon didn’t do anything different from what we had spoken about in the week.

“The preparation was good. We made a lot of mistakes in the first half and hopefully we got them all out the way and we look ahead to Portsmouth next week.”

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