Swindon boss Phil Brown points finger of blame at experienced trio

Posted Wednesday, August 22, 2018 by PA

Swindon boss Phil Brown felt the mistakes of three of his senior professionals had cost his side the game after they were held 2-2 at Crawley.

Brown’s men raced into a two-goal lead with strikes from the recalled James Dunne and Keshi Anderson inside 37 minutes.

But Swindon were left with nine men after Toumani Diagouraga and Dunne received straight red cards shortly after the interval.

Ollie Palmer reduced the deficit in-between the dismissals, and the former Lincoln forward struck again in the seventh minute of stoppage time to convert a penalty after being brought down by Marc Richards.

Brown felt his side’s mentality was once again found wanting, and said: “Three senior pro’s have let us down tonight.

“We let ourselves down in the 97th minute and it’s unforgivable.

“One of the senior pro’s that you could trust with your life (Richards) has let us down. The mentality is not good enough.”

Although dismayed at the manner in which his side are conceding, Brown insists he is enjoying the job.

He added: “Maybe it will be the death of me, but I’ll get it right.”

Brown hopes to add an international defender who is out of contract to his ranks later this week.

Crawley head coach Harry Kewell felt his side should have been celebrating victory, but insists his men are moving in the right direction.

The former Leeds and Liverpool star said: “I see it as two points dropped. You want three points against nine men.

“Swindon were 2-0 up at half-time, but we played a different way in the second half and looked fitter. Our final cross was not good enough.”

Kewell admitted he would have been disappointed at the manner of the visitors’ double dismissal had it been his players.

He added: “The red cards were for strong challenges. In my day they are normal challenges; I would have been disappointed, but the referee sees what he sees.

“We are disappointed we didn’t get the three points but the crowd are getting exciting football.

“We need to be more clinical in front of goal, but I feel my players are moving in the right direction. They are a team who is hungry for success.”