ASSISTANT manager Ben Futcher felt Swindon Town’s strong second-half performance meant they were deserving of their 1-0 win at home to Wycombe Wanderers in the Checkatrade Trophy tonight.

After a flat first half at the Energy Check County Ground devoid of chances at either end, Town were much improved after the restart and got their reward when Matt Preston headed home Donal McDermott’s 88th minute free-kick to snatch the victory.

The result keeps Town’s momentum going as they have now won three games in a row in all competitions, all of which have been achieved with clean sheets.

It also sees David Flitcroft’s side get off the mark in the Trophy, having been beaten 3-2 in their tournament opener at home to West Ham United U21s back in August.

Town now face a winner-takes-all clash away at local rivals Bristol Rovers in their final group game next Wednesday, where the victors will move on to the knockout stages.

“It was a decent performance. In the first half it was a bit scrappy but in the second half, the players really applied themselves,” said Futcher.

“We kept mixing it up, we had a lot of young attacking players on the pitch. In the first half, it was probably a bit static, but in the second half, we saw the fluidity and a bit more movement and we created more chances.

“We made a few changes and a few lads came into the team who have not been playing that regularly – it was a young team.

“There are lads that have played a lot of games so it was a case of mixing it up. It is squad game and everyone is going to be needed, like it showed tonight.

“We are trying to create a winning culture. It takes time but I think we have seen tonight that the squad are all together and it was a really good second-half performance and I think we deserved the win.”

Preston’s winner marked another good performance for the former Walsall man in the heart of the Town defence and Futcher was pleased his heroics kept up the positive vibes at the club.

“It was great delivery and a great header by Matt – he was outstanding all night,” said Futcher.

“It was a good goal and it’s always nice to keep a clean sheet as well. That’s three wins on the spin so we are motoring at the moment.”