FRAN THE MAN ROCKS ROBINS
ALAST-GASP defeat left chairman Lee Power feeling sick as a parrot after his final game in temporary charge of Swindon.
Power, who took the reins after Mark Cooper was sacked in the middle of last month, confirmed after their trip to Wigan that a new manager will be in place early next week.
However, his last act as stand-in boss was not a satisfying one, as Francisco Junior’s strike deep into injury time denied the struggling Robins a share of the spoils.
“To lose it that way is sickening,” said Power. “This is what happens when you are down this end of the table. We have got to take it on the chin.
“Wigan are a big club – I said it with Coventry last week as well. They are big clubs and I think they will fill the two top spots. Not too many teams are going to come away with much from here.
“We’re sick. I was saying to [first team coach] Luke Williams five minutes from the end that it was going either way – we were breaking, they were breaking and I said to him that it would be nice if for the first time this year we had a bit of luck!
“I am massively pleased with the performance. I said to the lads that I am proud of them, and I felt first half we should have been in front.”
In a frantic opening ten minutes at the DW Stadium Yanic Wildschut’s low ball across the face of goal evaded everyone, before Anton Rodgers slipped with just Jussi Jaaskelainen to beat.
Ben Gladwin then struck the post against the run of play on 25 minutes after Nicky Ajose had teed him up on the edge of the box.
The direct-running Wildschut contributed three further chances before the break, producing three routine saves from Lawrence Vigouroux.
Will Grigg was gifted the first chance of the second half, latching onto Gladwin’s misplaced pass only to fire over from just inside the Wigan area.
Chances dwindled as the game wore on, but Vigouroux remained alert to expertly block Reece James’ effort after Donald Love’s probing cross found him on 80 minutes.
Vigouroux was booked for time-wasting in added time and then spilled a cross with seconds remaining, allowing substitute Junior to prod home a dramatic late winner.
And Wigan boss Gary Caldwell revealed his satisfaction at getting the job done.
“We are on a good run of form and we just have to continue to build on that,” he said. “It is all about progress in terms of performance; the belief that that gives the players is important to keeping the momentum going.
“We did not get that early goal and that spooked us and for the next 15 minutes Swindon played very well.We knew that they liked to keep possession and pass between lines and Ben Gladwin was a problem for us in that spell.
“It is good to be ten unbeaten, but it is always about the next game in football. We are improving, and we still have a long way to go.”