HEAD coach Luke Williams was left scratching his head as to why Swindon Town turned in such a tepid performance in a 2-0 defeat at home to Walsall this afternoon.

Town had ended a run of four straight home defeats in League One with a 3-0 success over Rochdale on Tuesday night but returned to their miserable form at the County Ground against the Saddlers.

Williams was baffled as to why his side could let their level of performance drop to such an extent as they slid down the table to one place above the relegation zone.

“I need to get to the bottom of that because we looked like we had plenty of energy in the Rochdale game and we attacked with purpose but today we looked like we weren’t at the races and we didn’t have the initiative going forward that we had the other night,” Williams told BBC Wiltshire.

“I need to try to find out what it is that this group needs because we play with all of the ball and have chance after chance and don’t win, and we play without the ball and break away and have few chances but are clean and clear and win a game, but today – nothing.”

Town fell behind to Erhun Oztumer’s stunning 40-yard lob in the first half as he pounced on a loose Darnell Furlong pass to send the ball over the head of Lawrence Vigouroux before the Saddlers’ number 10 doubled his side’s lead soon after the restart with an equally-impressive volley.

Williams was unhappy with his side’s response to falling behind and admits they may be carrying some mental scars after a tough run of form.

“After the first goal, maybe psychologically there is a problem that we feel less energy and the team feel defeated, which is a mental weakness that is potentially a problem that is harder to see, but we have to get to the bottom of it,” said Williams.

“The first goal, I think we respond to it very badly. It was exceptional and although it’s a loose pass, ordinarily you would expect the team to have to do a lot more to score, but he hits it so quickly and it’s an incredibly difficult technique.

“I think that probably puts us out of our stride and makes us nervous and so on, but it’s not good enough.

“That’s an exceptional goal; that happens in football. You need to be able to continue and dust yourself down and be able to refocus but we looked tense.

“We got into the box and fluffed our lines, we got on the break and fluffed our lines, too many turnovers where we weren’t under too much pressure, too many missed tackles where we are too tense and fly in at the wrong moment.

“I think it’s hugely psychological and the goal really seemed to have a terrible effect on us.”