MARTIN Ling refused to defend his players after what he described as an ‘embarrassing’ display following Swindon Town’s 5-1 mauling at Fleetwood Town.

The Cod Army were allowed to march all over the visitors, especially in the second half, when Town, who slipped back into the relegation zone following their heavy defeat in the North West, shipped four goals.

Throughout the game, Swindon’s back three looked unsure, both in possession and out, therefore it was little surprise when Adam El-Abd put through his own net 34 minutes in.

After the break, Lawrence Vigouroux was the next to err. The keeper felled David Ball as he came out to try and grab the ball, referee Darren England was close by and awarded the penalty, which Antoni Sarcevic converted. Even at this stage, a comeback looked beyond Swindon.

Further strikes from David Henen, Tarique Fosu and Bobby Grant – the latter a particularly special curling effort – heaped more misery on Ling’s side, so much so that Nicky Ajose’s consolation header barely registered with his manager post-game.

Ling declined to shield his players from criticism. The Town boss was ashamed as his team succumbed to their heaviest defeat this season. He was particularly galled by their failure to compete for the ball.

“You’ve got to be honest in this game and that’s not good enough,” Ling told the local media.

“We can talk about it until we are blue in the face and there are people disappointed in dressing room - rightly so. I was quite embarrassed to sit and watch that performance from my side.

“We talk about the Swindon way and I understand the philosophy, but the first thing you’ve got to do is compete for the ball.

“We were second best all over the pitch. Anything that dropped down in and around our back line, midfield line and front; we were second best.

“I didn’t see it coming, that’s disappointing thing. We had the win last week, a good week at work and everyone looked sharp. We prepared right and travelled up early, trained on the way up. Everything was there for the players, but the 14 who went out today weren’t good enough.

“I’ll put it down to all 11 players having a bad day at the same time - there’s no one exempt from criticism in that unit.”