Swindon Town coach Tommy Wright gave his thoughts following his side's 2-0 defeat to Sunderland at the County Ground

A first-half goal from Charlie Wyke sent the Black Cats on their way before Chris Maguire won and scored a second-half penalty to secure the points for Phil Parkinson’s men.

Wright felt his team defended doggedly throughout the first half an hour against their more experienced opponents, yet Wyke’s goal came as the home defence briefly switched off and were made to pay 10 minutes before the break.

The goal was an example of Sunderland’s ability to remain ‘streetwise’, according to the Town coach as Wright attempted to explain the story of the game.

He said: “In the first half, Sunderland looked stronger and more organised, and maybe a bit more streetwise than us.

“They were on top of the game without creating a lot, but then we gave a very, very bad goal away.

“A simple cross came in the box, and a striker who’s done well in the past is free to knock it into the back of the net. So we’re disappointed with that.”

And although the second half began with Town very much on top, an efficient Sunderland counter-attack resulted in Jonathan Grounds sliding in on Maguire and giving away a penalty.

With the penalty scored, Town set about trying to halve the deficit, but to no avail.

Wright suggested the young group needs more help from their senior players when times get tough against quality opposition.

He said: “I thought in the second half, we were much better.

“We came at them, then we gave a poor penalty away, but we kept going at them.

“At this moment in time, we’ve got a lot of young players in the team and they need a bit of help.

“The senior players have to step up in that situation, but I thought in the second half, there were a lot of positives to take.

“They’re a very good team, very experienced, got a lot of players who have played at a very, very high level, so we’re disappointed with the result, but there were a lot of positives to take.”