Wellens warns players after defeat to Crawley
Posted Sunday, January 27, 2019 by PA
Swindon manager Richie Wellens warned his players they have nowhere to hide after a demoralising 1-0 defeat at home to Crawley.
Filipe Morais’ first-half effort was enough to earn the Red Devils all three points at the County Ground.
Wellens admitted the visitors showed more hunger than his side, saying: “It hurts more that Crawley have come, banked in, defended and left their body and spirit on the pitch.
“It shows where we are when we’re getting defeats like that where we’ve not really been in danger – the goal’s really poor.
“We allowed them to come inside and the defensive header’s poor, but we should be making so many more chances than that.
“I lacked a midfield player that could put his foot on the ball and dictate play for us. We’ve got little deficiencies in our set-up at the moment. There’s no hiding, it was poor.”
Crawley took the lead at the end of a drab first half.
Morais found the net with a shot from close range that deflected first off Tom Broadbent, and then Luke Woolfenden.
The Robins were gifted the chance to snatch a point in the 89th minute when Canice Carroll was fouled in the penalty area.
But Keshi Anderson’s spot-kick was well saved by Glenn Morris as injury time began.
The miss summed up Swindon’s contribution to a match which was dull for the majority.
After going in front Crawley were happy to sit on their 1-0 lead and, aside from the penalty, Swindon only forced half-chances from Kaiyne Woolery, Scott Twine and Ben House.
Visiting manager Gabriele Cioffi was delighted with the win, watched by only a handful of travelling fans.
The Italian hopes it will prove to be a catalyst for the rest of the Sussex side’s season.
Cioffi said: “We have turned the corner. This is a brilliant performance and we got a bit of luck which is what we deserved.
“There were only 144 supporters but they looked like 2,500. I really thank them. This victory is for them.”
Cioffi, whose side had lost their three previous matches, also praised his players’ character, saying: “It was an amazing performance.
“It is not easy to come here and play with personality. It is a massive stadium and is a Premier League crowd.
“We did not do any subs because I work on feeling and I didn’t think we needed to change anything.”
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