MANAGER Mark Cooper has reconciled that Swindon Town’s defensive fragility is down purely to inexperience after his side shipped three goals in defeat to Brentford on Boxing Day.

Two sloppy pieces of defending in the second half at Griffin Park allowed Clayton Donaldson and Marcello Trotta to turn a losing position into a winning one, as Town ended up with nothing to show for their efforts in west London despite twice taking the lead through Ryan Mason and Nicky Ajose.

It was far from the first occasion Swindon’s weaknesses at the back have cost the Robins points away from home but, having worked hard on the defensive side of the game in training, Cooper believes the repetitive nature of his team’s mistakes can only be put down to Town’s relative immaturity.

“I think that’s inexperience. If you look at the Brentford team they’re full of experience and they know how to see games out whereas our team is still learning,” he said.

“We’ve tried to get everyone behind the ball and frustrate teams, which proved reasonably successful, but now we’ve chosen to go in a different direction and try to make it entertaining. To do that you have to concede chances.

“I prefer any way that gets us results. I think we should have got a result today. They’re schoolboy goals to concede. It’s a cross in the box and people don’t deal with it and it’s a goal. We don’t get that. We don’t get gift goals. I’m convinced it’s down to inexperience.

“We can’t work on it any more. We’ve worked on it religiously nearly every day – defending in the box and making sure everybody is marked in the box – it’s different when you’re under pressure and you’re tired to keep carrying it out.”

Cooper confirmed that Nile Ranger was involved in a car accident on Christmas Day but suffered no ill effects.

“He seems fine,” he said. “Obviously we had to make sure he got here okay safely in a taxi from wherever. It’s just another day in Nile’s life.”

Jay McEveley missed the clash with a dead leg, while Dany N’Guessan was ill and Ryan Harley suffering from an upset stomach. All three are expected to return to action when Swindon visit Bradford City on Sunday.