Holloway discusses the next stage of the evolution of his Swindon team
Ian Holloway said that Swindon Town’s defensive improvements will help them to find an attacking rhythm as he continues to improve the side.
Having not kept a clean sheet for 99 days ahead of last weekend’s 0-0 draw with Crewe Alexandra, Swindon now have back-to-back league clean sheets for the first time since September 2022.
Whilst the improvements under Holloway have been stark, they had to show more grit then attacking verve to pick up a 2-0 win over Barrow AFC on Saturday.
After the game, the Town boss said that finding attacking fluency would be the next step in his evolution of the team as they fight against relegation.
He said: “Without a shadow of a doubt [that is next]. The more confident you get in keeping a clean sheet, the more I can coach the team going forward.
"I wanted some nicer football and I think we saw it when Aaron Drinan hit the post and I think we are working towards how good we can be.
“It is a weird thing where if you coach going forward too much and you let in too many goals then you are in terrible trouble, so I have done it from back to front and I am trying to stop the mistakes by going back and doing that, doing that, then win it back and we now look like we can win it back.
“What we have got to do in that final third is work together, we have a strange bunch with [Harry] Smith who you can just smack it to, Tom [Nichols] who uses his body and gets things and makes bad balls good ones, Aaron [Drinan] showed you what he is all about today with his running and pressing, he deserved a goal out of it.
“We have to work and do some better interplay, you haven’t all got to be skilful but you have to pass it and move, pass and follow your pass, and we have got to work on those.
“We had lots of opportunities where we worked the switch and we got into those corridors and we didn’t do the round and rounds to pass it, move and slot someone in who can get a cross off.
“We have got lots to do but I am delighted that I can talk about that on the back of a zero against and in quite a good run of league form.”
