SWINDON Town caretaker manager Tommy Wright said he thought his players were mentally and physically weak following a 5-0 defeat to Milton Keynes Dons that confirmed the club’s relegation.

In a game that Town had to win to have any chance of staying in League One, Will Grigg plundered four goals at Stadium:MK to put the result beyond doubt following Scott Fraser’s penalty.

The County Ground outfit surrendered possession to MK in the opening 20 minutes before surrendering the result five minutes into the second half when Grigg added goals four and five.

In a lengthy interview post-match, Wright said he felt his players played with fear during the defeat.

He said: “There were a few words said afterwards, but there were a few words said at half-time too and we came out and conceded two goals from problems that we’d already spoken about. You bang your head against a wall really.

“I thought mentally, the players were gone. I thought the players looked weak mentally and physically, and that showed against MK.

“There wasn’t a lot of pressure on us because not many people thought we could stay up. I told them to enjoy it, run about, play with freedom.

“It looked like they played with fear, they were placid, and it was like they just wanted it to be over.

“Now it is over, you might see a different team, but you don’t want players like that at your club, players that accept things.”

On Saturday, Wright revealed he would be leaving the club in the summer. The 55-year-old was asked with very few people expected to be left, where Swindon might go from here to rebuild in League Two.

Wright suggested that the club need to start again with a clean slate and that bringing the right players and manager in would be of the utmost importance if Town are to bounce back.

He said: “Firstly, the club needs a new manager, a leader, who knows the league.

“And then recruitment is massive, getting good players, good characters, players you can trust. Players who you know they might have bad games, but you know they’re not going to have too many bad games.

“And be positive – it’s hard to take any positives at the moment, but there are positives in there. Scott Twine tries his hardest, Jack Payne tries his hardest but is a bit too eager at times.

“The club has got to go back to the drawing board and look to the future to see what they want to do.”