Robins boss left to rue late loss

HEAD coach Luke Williams (right) with former Athletic player Anton Rodgers

STRUGGLING Swindon Town fell to a fifth straight defeat at Northampton, leaving them mired in the bottom-four of Sky Bet League One with head coach Luke Williams "devastated" at the manner of it.

The Robins, without a home win since November, are four points away from safety after John-Joe O'Toole's 82nd-minute winner at Sixfields.

That goal arrived only a minute after Luke Norris had equalised a Lloyd Jones own goal, with Northampton also seeing Marc Richards' early penalty saved by goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux.

It left Williams struggling to come to terms with what had happened.

"It's impossible to deal with it straight away because it is too difficult," Williams told the Swindon Advertiser.

"I think it is, again, mentality. We don't mark in the box properly and maybe lose concentration and again, it cost us.

"Two crosses into the box and we didn't mark properly and we concede two goals.

"We made a silly tackle in the box early and got away with it because Lawrence got us out of trouble.

"We scored the equaliser and then from the restart, we are so negative and we sit so deep. We allow the opposition to shoot and concede from the corner.

"There's devastation. The aftermath of something terrible has happened and now we need to dust ourselves down and be ready to go again on Saturday."

There was a hint of trouble in the camp, too, with striker Jermaine Hylton seeing leaving Sixfields before kick-off after finding out he was not part of the match day squad, having travelled with the team.

"Jermaine didn't want to stay about and be with the team, and left before the kick-off," Williams said.

"My personal opinion is it's not (acceptable) and Jermaine will have a different opinion. I'm sure it is something we will sort out in-house."

Swindon's ailing fortunes led to chairman Lee Power making a statement on the club website this week, clarifying the role of director of football Tim Sherwood.

"Tim has been in charge of all signings this window and will continue to be going forward, he has worked with Luke on each and every signing to ensure we get what is right for this club," Power said.

"Luke has full responsibility regarding the coaching of the players."