Ian Holloway surprised at how well Swindon adapted in win at Crewe

Ian Holloway admitted he was shocked at how well Swindon’s players coped with new demands at top-of-the-table Crewe after losing striker Harry Smith to a long-term injury.

Before their trip to the Mornflake Stadium, the Robins replaced Smith with the capture of former Wrexham frontman Ollie Palmer while beefing their backline by signing the experienced Ryan Tafazolli.

Palmer, drafted off the bench on the hour mark, was close to scoring on his debut, but by then the visitors had cemented an emphatic 3-0 win with first-half goals from Gavin Kilkenny, Paul Glatzel and Aaron Drinan.

“Our level of performance was excellent and it was almost shocking how the players did things considering how quickly we’ve got this team together after the huge loss of a week ago,” said Holloway.

“It was a soul-searching wonderful performance from a group of people who I didn’t know could do that so quickly after the training sessions we’ve had.

“Ollie Palmer just got on the bus at Walsall on Friday – I’m delighted to have this array of talent. We’ve got a long way to go to get the team I want, but to see that level of pressing, closing and understanding away at a team who were at the top of the table is so encouraging.

“Crewe can cut you apart once they get in things but what we did was deny them those gaps and spaces. On top of that once we did get the ball we moved it really well and created some wonderful chances. We created a lot more chances than we scored.”

Kilkenny’s deflected shot handed Holloway’s team an early lead and Glatzel doubled the score 10 minutes before the break when he pounced on a mistake by home goalkeeper Tom Booth, who failed to get a backpass under control.

The outstanding Drinan fired in from the edge of the box after a sweeping move just before the break and Swindon could have added more to their tally. Booth kept out Palmer’s angled shot and Princewill Ehibhatiomhan shot straight at the keeper in the closing minutes.

Crewe offered little sign of a fightback and manager Lee Bell accused his players of lacking intensity.

“I have told them they need to spot what is going on the pitch and organise as it can’t all come from the sidelines. It was a really poor afternoon and Swindon were better in every department,” said Bell.

“The most disappointing thing was the lack of energy out on the pitch. We’ve not made a lot of changes, but we’ve got plenty of young players on the pitch and we should be able to manage two games in two weeks. There was a lack of intensity and that’s not physical, it’s preparation and getting ready for the game.

“I thought the days of losing heavily at home had gone as we’ve done some good recruitment. But there were too many individual errors and way below performances.”