WELLENS IS HAPPY TO TAKE POINT
SWINDON manager Richie Wellens was satisfied with a point against Plymouth despite the visitors salvaging a draw late on.
The Robins looked to be heading for victory when Eoin Doyle fired them in front in first-half stoppage time, only for Joel Grant to pounce for the Pilgrims with 14 minutes remaining.
Wellens said: “That was a proper game, I’m happy with a point.
“We never want to sit deep, but Mathieu Baudry’s not played for five weeks and Gabriel Zakuani’s played three games in a week after not playing for five months.
“Dion Donohue’s played one game since March, Jordan Lyden’s not played for four to five weeks and he’s now played two games in a week so the energy just disappeared from us.
“With the injuries we have, we can’t plan things through the week. We worked a little bit about our midfield four in and out of possession, but it’s the hardest thing as a manager.
“If you pick up three injuries one week then two more the week after it’s hard. I just hope the other teams in this league suffer the same as what we have, and then we’ll see how we go.”
In a first half of few chances, Doyle stroked the Robins ahead after rushing onto a Lyden pass before dinking the ball over the on-rushing Alex Palmer.
Grant levelled with a composed finish from the left-hand side of the box to send the well-travelled Green Army into raptures behind the goal.
Plymouth will feel a share of the spoils were justified, given that Ryan Lowe’s side just about edged proceedings in the second half.
Zak Rudden and sub Jose Baxter both shot over the bar, while Scott Wotton fired just wide prior to Grant’s strike.
Rudden also had Plymouth’s best chance in the first half, a minute before Doyle’s goal, when he shot straight at Steven Benda from close range.
Lowe said: “In the first half we didn’t play as well as we should, they highpressed in our faces which I still want us to try and play.
“It was a bit of a derby in the first half, but we conceded a sloppy goal from our point of view in the first half – the goal before half-time changed everything. Second half we were the better team, we were playing and roaming forward more and George Cooper and Jose Baxter gave us that little bit more. “I thought we deserved the goal, but overall it was a good result. “I thought even though we didn’t play well in the first half, I still thought we had two great chances to go 2-0 up in the first half. “They got the goal, but in the second half I thought there was only one team that was going to win and we deserved the goal.”