SWINDON Town head coach Jody Morris felt his players learned lessons from a midweek defeat by Sutton United and used those experiences to help them close out victory over Salford City on Saturday.

Last Tuesday, Town threw away a one-goal lead late on by sitting deep and panicking when winning the ball back.

But at the weekend, there was far less evidence of defensive stress, and Morris’ men held on to a 2-1 lead to give their coach three points for the first time since taking charge.

Ryan Watson scored in the fourth minute for Salford, but Jacob Wakeling equalised prior to half-time, and an Elliot Watt own goal in the 55th minute gifted Swindon the win.

Asked how much of an impact defeat to Sutton had on the messages his players received ahead of their trip to the Peninsula Stadium, Morris admitted the chastening result played a key part in the pre-match discussions on Saturday.

He said: “I had two meetings with the players before the game, and the big focus in the first meeting was about what happened on Tuesday.

“There was video footage of stuff that we need to do better from a defensive aspect, like taking responsibility.

“There was one moment in the second half [against Salford] where you had Tom Clayton and Ciaran Brennan getting in each other’s way, and that gifted the best chance for them before Clayton recovered. But, aside from that, I felt we were taking responsibility more.”

Following a sketchy opening 20 minutes, Swindon gradually began to improve defensively and ultimately forced Ammies boss Neil Wood to replace the sizeable physique of Matt Smith for the more manageable Callum Hendry.

Morris was proud of Town’s clarity when defending against both of Salford’s strikers and once again paid tribute to the response of his players.

He said: “Whether that was somebody going up for a challenge and trying to head it or picking up the second ball, it was quite clear who was doing it.

“That wasn’t as clear against Sutton, and that was a lot of what we showed the players this morning. We also showed them bits of them doing it well, so I was pleased with that.

“It’s always nice when you’re touching on things which are then done well after you see that there is an area we need to improve on to give ourselves the best chance of winning.

“They were certainly put under the pump a little bit in the last 15 minutes or so, and I felt they stood up and rose to the challenge.”