LOUIS Thompson has urged Town fans to trust in manager Mark Cooper and his assistant Luke Williams after a flat performance at Sheffield United left the Robins with nothing.

Town slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Bramall Lane thanks to a Jose Baxter header for the hosts but it was the second-half performance which really rankled with the 551 supporters who made the trek up the M1.

Swindon, who for an hour used the 4-6-0 formation so effective at Colchester last month, took the best part of 35 minutes to muster an effort at goal after the break and were mocked by a section of their own crowd for their hesitation in the final third.

After the game, however, Thompson stood up for the club’s management team, saying: “I think you’ve just got to have trust in the formation, really. The fans were getting onto us a little bit but they’ve just got to have trust in the manager and the assistant. They know what they’re doing, they know the best way for us to get something from that game.

“If they hadn’t scored and we left here with a 0-0 I don’t think there’d be that much criticism. You’ve got to take the rough with the smooth.

“I don’t think we sat back as much. People are making out that we were sitting ducks but we had our chances in that game.

“We went to Colchester and used the same formation and battered them. Each game this formation has its plusses and today we didn’t take our chances.

“We’ve got good fans and you have to be grateful to them for travelling down.

“They can have their opinions, everyone has their opinions. As a team you’ve just got to get around each other and continue doing what you’re doing.”

Thompson felt Swindon more than matched their hosts over 90 minutes, saying: “I think their goal was the only real chance they had. We have to take the positives from that and move on.

“They were always going to come out stronger in the first 15 minutes of the second half and I think we weathered the storm well, I thought we were pretty solid.

“They’ve got their goal and gone on from there but I don’t think there was any reason why we didn’t come out in the second half.

“I don’t think they came out and showed they were a better team than us. I think in the first 45 we were the better team and there were a few dubious decisions. There are plus and minus points to the day today.”