SWINDON Town manager John Sheridan has criticised his team for being too naïve and too easy to play against this season following a 2-1 defeat to Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.

Town were a goal down inside the first five minutes at the County Ground and went on to concede a second shortly before half-time as Doncaster’s Fejiri Okenabirhie struck both times.

A slightly improved second half saw substitute Hallam Hope halve the deficit, but Sheridan’s men were unable to make up for the damage they had caused during a poor first half.

Down in 23rd following a 14th League One defeat of the campaign, Sheridan accused his team of being too soft and lazy in the mind at times which cause goals to be gifted to opposition sides at will.

He said: “Yeah, we are (easy to play against). Defensively, and I’m not just talking about the goalkeeper and the defenders, we are too soft.

“Doncaster’s first goal has come from a throw-in inside their half.

“It should be a case of being organised, stopping the throw-in, stopping them picking the ball up and having comfortable possession.

“People have switched off from a throw-in, and it’s cost us a goal. When everything is in front of you, as a defender, you should be sorting everything out and doing it quickly to stop it from happening.”

In a game that saw Swindon have just six shots at goal – over half of which were from outside the box – the Town boss also felt his team did not do enough to move the ball quickly and worry their visitors in the final third.

The 56-year-old pointed at Doncaster and Peterborough United as teams Swindon could learn from when trying to be more ruthless up front.

Sheridan said: “What Doncaster have done well this season – and I think they’re probably the best team at doing it – is when they turn the ball over, they try and hurt you.

“Peterborough do it well too, they hurt you quickly. We do it in patches, and we’ve got to do that more often.

“But, if you switch off, and you’re lazy in your mind, you get caught out against good teams.

“We’re too naïve, and we’ve conceded too many goals this season.

“You can only give information to the players, but the game is going on very quickly and the players have got to sort themselves out.

“You’ve got to be vocal, you’ve got to organise and get people into the right positions as quickly as you can.”