Wellens stays upbeat after crazy game

SWINDON boss Richie Wellens was quick to take the positives despite being held to a draw by nine-man Lincoln City.

The Robins battled back from two goals down to secure a point against the table-toppers at the County Ground.

Both Jason Shackell and Shay McCartan scored first-half goals after the visitors had gone down to ten men, following Bruno Andrade’s sending off.

And scorer Shackell was also sent for an early bath ten minutes after the restart, with half-time substitute Michael Doughty scoring a penalty and an 88thminute equaliser.“

“Before the first sending off, they couldn’t breathe – we pressed the life out of them, played good football, made the goalkeeper work, but again our deficiencies (cost us),” admitted Wellens afterwards.

“The only time they’ve gone into our penalty box they scored from a second-phase header.

“Mentally that can hurt, the sucker punch, playing really well but going one behind. But I thought we were brilliant even in that first half an hour.

“Loads of positives – we come in at half-time having made mistakes, the second goal, it’s a great strike, but we shouldn’t have given him the opportunity to score a wonder goal.

“We come in half-time at two down, but we were really positive, because we’d been really good, but we just switched off twice.

“It goes down to nine men and it’s a bit of a farcical game, it’s just attack against defence and they’re no real threat at all.

“It was about us trying to get in the right areas to score and we had umpteen opportunities, ricochets and at the end you’re just waiting for someone to kick it in from a yard out. We had loads of chances, but loads of positives.”

Andrade was the first Lincoln man sent off for kicking out at Kyle Knoyle, but Shackell soon knocked home after John Akinde headed down a free-kick.

McCartan doubled the lead with an incredible lob, but after Doughty pulled a goal back from the spot, Shackell was dismissed for his protests.

And Doughty eventually grabbed the long-awaited Swindon equaliser two minutes from time.