MARK Cooper suggested “you’d have to go back a long way to see a Swindon team playing football like that” after watching his side return to something close to their fluent best at Crewe Alexandra.

Town were utterly dominant for 70 minutes at Gresty Road on Saturday, passing the ball about at pace and creating plenty of chances without making their efforts tell on the scoreboard and, though Ryan Harley fired the Robins ahead Alex earned a share of the spoils thanks to Vadaine Oliver’s equaliser.

It was hugely frustrating for Cooper, who said in his post-match press interviews that when Swindon get into a rhythm they take some stopping.

“You’d probably have to go back a long way to see a Swindon team playing football like that but that’s what we’re about, that’s what we’re going to try to do,” he said.

“We’re going to try to get even better, we’re going to try to keep on dominating the football but the name of the game is putting the ball in the back of the net.

“It’s brilliant football again. We’ve played some brilliant football this year and I’m not sure many teams will have come here and produced that kind of football performance.

“That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re a work in progress but if we keep playing like that we’re on the right tracks.”

Cooper opted for a tight, four-man midfield in Cheshire, with Louis Thompson, Yaser Kasim, Harley and Massimo Luongo operated in a diamond and he was pleased with how effective the formation was.

“It was a diamond – Massimo Luongo playing behind two strikers,” he said. “We felt we could get Massimo on the ball in behind their midfield, which we did time and time again. The overriding factor is we should have won the game.”