We’ve played better – Jody Morris wants Swindon to go up another gear

Posted Sunday, April 23, 2023 by PA

Swindon boss Jody Morris felt his side’s performance was far from perfect after they came from behind to rout AFC Wimbledon 5-1 at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

The Dons have now dropped 38 points from winning positions this season, and once again they took the lead through Aaron Pierre, who was later sent off.

But Swindon surged back quickly through Jacob Wakeling and a Luke Jephcott double before half-time.

Tom Clayton scored his first goal for Swindon before Ronan Darcy completed the thrashing from the spot after Pierre was shown red for deliberate handball.

“It’s always nice to win by decent margins, but we’ve played better than that this season,” said Morris.

“We’re still not performing to the levels I think we’re capable of. It wasn’t a great start to the game for us. We were poor in some of our decisions and in possession of the ball.

“Trust me, I’m absolutely over the moon, even if my face might not be showing it. I’m really pleased for the lads to get another win under the belt. But I felt we could have scored more.”

Swindon keeper Sol Brynn smothered Ali Al Hamadi, who was running clear through on goal, shortly after half-time, and Morris felt that was a crucial turning point in the match.

“If we’re going to improve, we need to stamp out those moments because on another day that could easily have been 3-2 very early in the second half,” said Morris.

“I think the first 10 or 12 minutes of the second half was our worst for a while. If it wasn’t for our goalkeeper we would have been in trouble.”

For under-fire Dons manager Johnnie Jackson there were precious few positives to take from a game that ended with some home fans calling for a managerial change.

“It was an unacceptable performance,” said Jackson. “Having started so well, the goals we gave away today were criminal.

“You have to make the opposition work for their goals and too many times we handed it to them on a plate.

“Today is not representative of the work we’ve done. But unfortunately as the manager, rightly so, I caught the flack and that’s understandable because today was unacceptable.

On the fans chanting for him to go at full-time, he added: “That’s their right. They’re passionate about their team. It’s disappointing for me obviously.

“I’m a big boy and you get into management knowing you’re going to have these spells, these disappointments and it’ll make me more resilient.

“I’m absolutely determined to learn the lessons from this season and work tirelessly over the close season so that we’re in a position next season where we don’t have to witness that.”