Swindon eye Forest double

Just five points adrift now from a play-off position and Swindon Town are gearing up to seize three more away to Nottingham Forest this Saturday.A fantastic 3-0 win over Cheltenham on Tuesday, and a 2-1 victory over Forest last month means that there is no reason why history cannot be repeated.

Lee Peacock said: "If we apply ourselves we have a chance. It is a fantastic stadium and if we apply ourselves like we did at Leeds we will be alright.

"We will be good for a point at least. We need to compete with the likes of Forest away if we are to be a contender for the play-offs.

"When we are going away to the teams at the basement we also have to be turning them into wins."

Maurice Malpas is also optimistic that the quest for the play-offs is realistic and that the odds can be defied.

He said: "There is no way I will set up in a negative way. We are going for three points and if we only get a draw then we will take a point.

"It is far more important we get wins away from home as opposed to hoping for draws by being negative.

"We know it will be a difficult game but I think the pressure is on Nottingham Forest. They are expected to beat us.

"I am a typical Scotsman and we will go up there and upset the odds."

The Cheltenham game on Tuesday started off dismally, the weekend hurt against Huddersfield still raw after the end of our nine game unbeaten run. For the first 15 minutes, Cheltenham fought full possession of the ball, and lacklustre defending from Swindon nearly cost us dearly. Nerves were probable here. And there was good reason for Billy Paynter to be nervous, who warned to watch out old pal Steve Brooker, on loan to Cheltenham from Bristol City.

However, it was a delight to see Simon Cox netting in the 20th minute, his first goal at home since his signing – kicking from close range after Cheltenham sacrificed the ball. A lazy goal one might argue, but a typical good striker’s goal – being simply in the right place at the right time. Twenty minutes later, Paynter sent Swindon 2-0 up.

In the second half, Swindon finally displayed consistent levels of brilliance. Towards the end of the game, Christian Roberts came off the bench to secure Swindon's win from the left side of penalty area. After being 3-0 up, Cox was replaced by Blair Sturrock and enjoyed a rapturous applause as he came off.

Anthony McNamee also stood out for me as man of the match. The game ended with a fine 3-0 result and a fine three points. Swindon are now currently five points behind sixth-placed Tranmere. I finish off by wishing the very best of luck to Swindon tomorrow. Who knows, the play-offs could be waiting for us.

NEIL ROBINSON

Cheltenham's away form deserts them again

Cheltenham failed to follow on from their Manchester United style 2-1 win against Brighton, in which they scored twice in injury time, as they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Swindon at the County Ground.

Despite a bright start, in which Steve Brooker missed two good chances, and Dave Bird hit a post, the game changed when the usually reliable Alex Russell misplaced a pass. Sadly, this was in his own penalty area, and after the mix up, Simon Cox put Swindon ahead. Russell then seemed to think Cheltenham were still playing in red, as he hit dozens of passes to gleeful Swindon players, as Cheltenham got themselves in a muddle.

Thankfully the County Ground was a lot drier than the last time I visited, but still slightly cold, and Cheltenham's day got worse following yet another mix up, as again they tried to pass it out of the box. This time Billy Paynter was the recipient, scoring Swindon’s second, which was followed a bizarre celebration as Paynter pulled captain Hasney Aljofree's shorts down in front of a slightly bemused crowd.

While Cheltenham couldn't have been faulted for determination, Steven Gillespie especially, the killer touch was lacking, and any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Christian Roberts scored with practically his first touch after coming on. A good first touch it was too, firing an angled shot into the bottom left hand corner from long range.

So not as good a day as Cheltenham's last trip to the County Ground, and they'll need to pick themselves up for the game against Hartlepool on Saturday.

Meanwhile a good set of results for Forest Green's play off hopes meant nothing as they could only draw with Stevenage, although that in itself is a credible result. Rovers remain four points off top five, and still have to go to Cambridge.

JAMES LEWIS

Malpas plotting play-off push

It’s been a few weeks since I last reported on Swindon but I wanted time to tick by so I could give a fair assessment on new manager Maurice Malpas. Two own goals by Nottingham Forest a couple of weeks ago was probably not the way Malpas had hoped to seize his first win as new manager but none the less, a win is a win in football. This was undeniably a brilliant result for Swindon, who did superbly in staving off an equaliser.

The play-off push is a tight one, but one that is being accelerated with optimism. To date Town have remained stagnant mid-table. In tenth place with 39 points, we are currently tailgating a play-off place.

The FA Cup game versus Barnet was a frustrating match for Malpas. Billy Paynter scoring at both ends was followed by failure to break through a ten men Barnet for the winner, and the eventual disaster of four missed penalties.

Paynter’s spell of misfortune continued at Crewe last Saturday when he saw red for fouling Michael O’Connor. However, Malpas’s first away victory against Luton earlier this week took Swindon’s unbeaten run to ten games, thanks to Christian Roberts’ 52nd Minute goal. Unluckily for the opposition, their attempt in the 14th minute was declared offside.

Afterwards Malpas said: "I think the pleasing thing is we got three points and the manner in which we played to get them.

"It wasn't a pretty game but I think in the second half we showed more composure and scored our goal."

It is pleasing to note that new players Anthony McNamee and Moses Ashikodi, both from Watford, have joined STFC as Maurice’s first new signings. McNamee’s two-and-a-half-year deal was for an undisclosed fee. Striker Ashikodi is on loan until the end of this season.

Reading Striker Simon Cox has been in the news in Swindon a lot this week as well. His deal has been secured with STFC and he is expected to play against Northampton on Saturday. Meanwhile, Malpas has recently approached striker Lee Peacock and defender Miguel Comminges to extend their contracts. Peacock has agreed to a new contract with Swindon will now remain in the squad for at least another season until 2009.

So it seems that finally Swindon is setting anchor on both its possessions and its sights. It will be interesting to see if we can still achieve the play-offs in the remaining time of this season. To be honest I think it’s remarkable that we are in the great position now to be able to make these ambitions, considering the recent dark days as reported in my earlier posts.

Keeper Brezovan is staying until the end of the season. The team is taking shape with some quality players all fighting to wear the shirt. Truly exciting times for a more robust and stable Swindon. Malpas has impressed fans so far. Let’s hope this remains the case.

NEIL ROBINSON